


The Child of Nike

by iFluffySquirrel



Series: The Child of Nike [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: And he sent to kids to hell, And no one noticed, Angst, Awesome Jarvis (Iron Man movies), BAMF Pepper Potts, BAMF Tony Stark, But to fair at this point they are HYDRA, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Camp Half-Blood family, Comic Book Science, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Found Family is real family, Gen, I took Rick Riordan's sandbox and ramped up the maturity, Iron Man 2, M/M, Mostly Iron Man 2 Compliant, Natasha Romanoff is a spy, Not Canon Compliant - The Trials of Apollo, OC doesn't want him find out, Percy Jackson and the Olympians compliant, Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Post-The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson), Pre-Iron Man 2, She is rightfully a person to watch out for, Shield is morally questionable, Shield is sneaky, Spies have agendas and missions, Team Iron Man, Tony Stark Has A Heart, but he doesn't know it, tony stark is a dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 58,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24931396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iFluffySquirrel/pseuds/iFluffySquirrel
Summary: In the fallout of the Battle of Manhattan, the demigods thought that life was finally going right for them. Their godly parents seemed to communicate more. Everyone was being claimed. The camp population swelled and new cabins were constructed for all of the gods, not just the twelve Olympians.Cassandra Campeao saw this as a step in the right direction. Then the Giants came. And Gaea came. Things went wrong. There are Romans and they invaded and people, her people, died. But they can rebuild just like always. The demigods are a resilient group, until they try to live in the Mortal World.The mortal world is advancing in a way that demigods won't be able to survive in and she is trying to see a way out for them. She's a Child of Victory and achieving her goals is a superpower. It's just another problem and she can solve it.She's running out of ideas until she sees that press conference, "I am Iron Man."
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Original Character(s)
Series: The Child of Nike [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1804345
Comments: 78
Kudos: 219





	1. The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> So this story is just me playing with an idea.
> 
> I loved the Percy Jackson books when I was a kid and obviously the books are written for kids. They're great for kids, but I felt like there was a way to make something new with a maturity jump. And in my head I came across some problems.
> 
> Annabeth wants to be an architect. That takes college. Fine. That also takes computers and communication and how is a demigod like her supposed to have a job like that? Actually how did any demigods do that? What happens to them when they make it out of camp?
> 
> Remember, how Percy making it to 16 was a miracle?
> 
> Making adulthood was a miracle when the Prophecy came out and that was before the Titans showed up and drew even more monsters out. So do they all mostly die in early adulthood? What is there actual population percentage compared to mortals? Based on New Rome is must be a lot. That is a lot of people dying young.
> 
> And then it collided with my rediscovered love of MCU Phase I and II. You can disagree but all of my favorites came out then.
> 
> And of course, in a world with Greek gods that are drawn to interesting and powerful humans how could Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, avoid their attention.
> 
> So in my eyes, the influential genius full of potential and power would draw the eye of an ambitious and success centered goddess, Nike. You could argue Athena but his personality doesn't fit with wise warrior maiden goddess for me.
> 
> The goal of my OC is not to fly in and fix all of the worlds problems in full Mary Sue fashion. She has her own issues and goals and she really doesn't want anyone else's problems too, but if she really likes you maybe. She is smart but she is learning because she is young and she doesn't always understand Mortal Society all that well. 
> 
> There will be a bit of culture clashing for her. There will be moments where she goes I am a strong independent demigod leave me alone. But really she's being difficult.
> 
> So, please enjoy. Be gentle with me for I am smol and sensitive. Please give me all of the constructive criticism and even point out grammar if you're good at that thing.

The events following the aftermath of the battle against Gaea are not surprising. Really, they aren’t much different than the battle of Manhattan, accept it’s worse, so much worse. Cassandra’s home is a wreck and there are bodies in the field where she used to play and run with her friends, her family, her people. 

Most of them are younger than she is. She is twenty, near twenty one, and she feels so old.

She promised them last year, after the second Titanomachy ended, that she was going to find a way for them to grow old and live their lives. Go to school, get real jobs. She didn’t think the second Gigantomachy would happen the next year. The first ones were centuries apart. 

Cassandra watches the proceedings numbly, processing that twitchy Leo Valdez, child of Hephaestus, who loved to fiddle with her projects is probably dead but they won’t find him. They won’t get to send him to the afterlife with payment for the boatman. With everything that’s happened will Hades even be willing to offer a reprieve for him? He’s a hero like Luke was but so much better. He deserves Elysium.

The only silver lining she can see here is that the Romans are helping.

Analysis of the battle shows that while that augur was insane (What was his name again? She doesn’t care.) no demigods actually killed each other in the early stages of the fighting. If they had she would be involved in a whole different kind of situation. Thankfully, even Romans can be gentle when it comes to a bunch of enhanced kids fighting.

As it stands, the beach along Long Island Sound has been repurposed to suit the many funerals. 

There are many shrouds covering many faces. Cassandra hasn’t counted them all yet but she will count the pyers before they are lit.

Oddly enough, she notes that each Roman carried their own shrouds with them into the battle. Convenient.

There are sixty five Greek pyres and most of them are younger than she is. The Romans come in lighter at fifty, probably because they came here ready for a battle while her family was trying to defend.

Bad thought.

That’s not helpful. 

She can’t blame the Romans for all of this. Based on what Frank and Hazel have told her the Roman camp really is a military machine and once they got going...well being led astray and just following orders is only reassuring when nobody dies. Romans killed zero Greeks, directly.

Indirectly? Well, if they had listened when the Greeks said Gaea and the giants were coming then maybe…

Nope.

Not happening brain.

As long as they help rebuild everything that they broke and sit down with her and other Greek representatives to talk peace and treaties, she can forgive and move forward.

She needs to find Percy and Jason to help...but she doesn’t see Annabeth and Piper either so it’s probably best that she waits awhile. No one wants to walk in on them.

Her face is stone while Chiron reads off the dead. Her face is stone when the cabin leaders light the pyres belonging to their siblings. Her face is stone when everyone else is crying.

She is Cassandra Campeao, Daughter of Nike, a genius like the father she has never met. She has multiple PhDs already in STEM fields to prove it, and she never wants to see something like this again. 

So she won’t. She is a child of victory and she does not lose.

~~~

Chiron tracks her down a few hours later from where she is pouring over a map of the camp reviewing and improving the defenses she used to believe were impregnable.

She laughs to herself. Impregnable to monsters maybe but she designed it so that her fellow demigods could get through in the event the magic barrier fell like it nearly did a few years ago. Her mistake.

“Cassandra, you are the most unusual Greek hero I have ever had the pleasure of teaching.”

After Kronos, everyone told her that there was no reason for her to add more defenses and security measures to the perimeter. She wishes she ignored them, she wishes she added more. 

“For a child of a minor god, you are driven, skilled, powerful, and on par with the likes of Odysseus himself whom you so respect.”

Doubtful, she’s no Odysseus. If she was, she would have come up with some inane plan that would have routed Gaea’s hordes before they stomped into her home.

“For a human, you are truly the most brilliant I have worked with. It was completely worth the headache of dealing with a thirteen year old trying to go to MIT.” She winces. It’s still a soft spot for her. She knew from the moment Chiron offered to get her education advanced and she saw the brochure that it was MIT or bust for her. Even though NYU would have been so much easier for Chiron to handle, he made it work for her.

She didn’t find out until she was sixteen who her father was, when she was blessed with her weapon for a job well done (to be fair her spear is brilliant and amazing and no one else could move or think fast enough to use it) and her mother spoke to her for the first time in almost four years. For the second time in her life. 

So she didn’t find out until she was sixteen years old, when she was already an accomplished hero with four camp beads to her name and on her way to submitting her first dissertation, that her father went there too. 

“Chiron, my great teacher, my friend, my therapist whose ear I will be talking off later, please cut to the chase because I am exhausted and do not have the patience to wait for you to talk around this.”

She didn’t know until she was sixteen that the weirdo billionaire who makes the gossip pages all the time named Tony Stark is her father. She can still remember the screech that Selena made before she was sworn to a silence that lasted all of a week. Then the whole camp knew. Not like it mattered, she’s a bastard he’s never met and his lifestyle doesn’t align with father of the year material. She stayed away. She can take care of herself just fine.

“Alright then, there was no way this would have ended bloodlessly. As it stands, one hundred and fifteen heroes died today.” Leo got an empty pyre with a shroud. She hopes it's enough. “Without you coming in and taking command of the Greeks like you did it would have been far worse.”

“You can’t know that, Chiron.”

He nods, “You’re right, I cannot. But I believe it. You arrived, leaped from the bow of the Argo II, cleared space, and roused the moral of both camps. And then you charged despite the frankly impossible odds.” It does make her sound heroic but…

“This can’t happen again, Chiron. No more surprise extra camps and no more secret wars. The world is too different now, it’s too small. We are going to end up trapped in the borders of Camp Half-Blood, like the Romans in their antiquated city, unless we do something.” 

As technology advances, the idea of living becomes as foolish as lighting a flare and saying, “Here I am, monster.” Soon it won’t be safe for demigods to attend school. Soon walking down the sidewalk will broadcast what they are to their enemies. That doesn’t even include the mortal populations that have started to notice what they call ‘enhanced’ in the last few decades.

Damn Captain America. 

“Then find me a workable solution, Dr. Campeao.”

Her father builds the most advanced weapons in the world and runs the biggest multi-billion dollar international corporation in the world.

He’s also a renowned playboy, so is it really all that surprising that she exists?

A global powerhouse like that was bound to draw an Olympian or two, like her mother.


	2. The plan

It’s because of the aftermath and the cleanup that she does it. The camp has been restored and she led initial negotiations with the Roman Praetors (Frank got promoted? Go Frank!) before drafting up a treaty that they all signed.

They plan to discuss exchanges of supplies, information, and personnel but at this point the Romans just want to go home. They managed to be heroes here but they were very nearly the villains and that has hit them hard. She's inclined to let them go without a fuss despite Clarisse grumbling about her being too forgiving.

Once all the pieces fall into place and her home is repaired and fully Greek once again, she decides to read up on her father, her one lifeline to the mortal world. It has been months since she last did. This business with Gaea and the Argo II, then they sailed to Greece...Tartarus… She’s been busy.

He’s dead...but then he’s not?

In the time that she was very much not aware of the mortal world her father ended up kidnapped by terrorists that were in possession of her father’s weapons. Somehow, he not only survived but he escaped. And the first thing he did when he got home was not go to the hospital, but hold a press conference where he declared before the entire world that terrorists have his weapons and he will not accept that nor will he make anymore.

Instead he plans to take the company in a new direction.

New direction.

She doesn’t have a plan yet, but it’s a thought.

Cassandra has read all of her father’s papers and she knows that he clearly has never faced a problem that he cannot solve.

Escaped from terrorists? She is beginning to understand what he mother meant when she called him indomitable. 

She can be like that.

Cas takes the next few weeks to reevaluate her own life goals.

Her dream is for her family to be able to live. (Her other dream is to make it to old age but let's be realistic here.)

If that is her goal then there are a few things she needs:

No more dead kids. 

She needs to make sure that young demigods can be found sooner. Annabeth was six when she stumbled into camp with Luke and Thalia. How many aren’t that lucky? It’s not like it’s uncommon for demigods to run away from home...or be chased away from home.

That makes going to school and getting an education difficult but that is more manageable. Chiron did it for her, but she also knows that she was a major risk and investment for him to make. A thirteen year old at MIT drew a lot of attention. 

Honestly? Thank the gods that all the other scientists that fall in the category of teen MIT genius were oblivious to her because they could've been an issue if they took an interest. As it was, she dodged a lot of headhunters and interested parties by keeping her head down. Not that it was hard, she didn’t have any peers so what was she supposed to do during the year but work and research and write and practice. 

Summer at camp was freedom so she didn’t go insane. It was the reaffirmation of her goals. Everyone was proud when the degrees and the grants started to come in. Until the titans ruined everything.

Annabeth was her shadow at camp when she wasn’t with her cabinmates or Luke. And Luke? Her favorite sparring partner, her first friend, and look how that turned out. Just like Charlie and just like Silena and everyone else that's died before they got to live. 

_No more dead kids._

The kids that do make it deserve a shot at a career and a real education. Sure circa the stone age before computers the Apollo kids could become doctors and Athena’s children could become politicians and builders and great leaders. Now? Everything important needs a computer with a wireless signal.

A wireless signal that amplifies their demigod ‘smell’ (It’s an energy signature similar but significantly weaker than what the gods give off. She tested it and confirmed it with Mr. D.)

The monsters hunt them down because they give off a signal like their godly parents and hate them for it. It’s so fair. 

Regardless of whether or not they can get that education and career in relative safety there is still the problem that monsters exist but the mortals don’t know. So if Ms. Ortega the cleaning lady turns out to be a gorgon and a demigod defeats her in the middle of a hospital...well someone is going to call the FBI.

No matter how many times she turns this over in her head Cas keeps coming to the same conclusion. The only way for her family to truly live is for demigods to come out of hiding.

If demigods come out of hiding then the camp can openly approach and help the mortal parent earlier. They can help the demigod earlier.

If demigods come out of hiding then they don’t have to be afraid of using their training or abilities openly and they can practice more and grow stronger.

But first, she will need to be able to prove that they are not some evil super powered cult...like what happened when they were forced into hiding in the first place. Thanks, Christians.

They seem to be mostly past stoning and burning people to death as monsters, demons, and heretics so they shouldn’t be a problem.

She will also need to prove that they are not a child army which means that there will need to be more like her with a higher education. People will need to see that demigods need control training and it’s best to get it from Chiron and other older demigods.

She will need help from mortals in high places that can sympathize with her desire for peace and growth.

She will need help to develop technology that does not shout to the world that there's an available demigod to butcher.

And this is where her planning stalls because she cannot think of a way to get any of that without telling a mortal in power just what she is before she can have any safeguards in place.

~~~

“Cas!”

Whoever that is can wait. She is building something of supreme importance. 

“Cassie! Cas!”

Nope. She needs this for movie night. She’s already finished the other four.

“Cas! Cassandra!”

Is that Jason? What does he want?

“Cas! Come on! Your dad is on TV again about the robot fight in California yesterday.” 

What?

But she’s building lightsabers...they make the noise when she swings them and can hold up in a light spar (Light demigod spar, this is an important distinction). She needs them for movie night.

She drops her tools and runs after Jason, “This had better wow me, Sparky, because I need these done for Star Wars night.” They missed May the Fourth but that doesn't mean there can't be a belated celebration.

“Did you miss me saying robot fight?” Okay fair. That is a fair point.

By the time they make it to the Big House, where their only tv with news access is, the press conference has already started.

He looks healthier than the first post-Afghanistan press conference.

Everyone in the room laughs with her when the word superhero gets tossed around. 

But then, “that would be outlandish and fantastic. I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public.” She snorts but holds back any more laughter.

She’s not sure who it is but one one the younger kids speaks up, “He does know that every real hero is majorly flawed right? Like that’s the point. To overcome.”

“The truth is...I am Iron Man.” Every hero is flawed, yes. And every great hero takes responsibility for what they are and what that means.

She needs to talk to Chiron. She has a plan. 

~~~

Chiron is an easy sell and it freaks her out. He lets her talk and talk for over an hour about her goals, the complications, the solutions and how ultimately she has a feeling. Sure, they are gut feelings she gets that guide her towards her goals whether it is in a fight or apparently planning the reintegration of demigods into mainstream society. But they haven’t steered her wrong yet.

But when she is finished, Chiron looks at her and says “You need to present this to the cabin heads and then to the entire camp. If they agree then we will seek an audience on Olympus.”

Oh. 

She should have thought about that.

It surprises her that it’s the Demeter and Ares cabin heads, Katie and Clarisse, that have reservations about her plans.

And it’s not for reasons obvious to her.

“You want to reveal yourself as a demigod, a living genius weapon, to your father and weapons manufacturer-”

“Former weapons manufacturer.” It’s an important difference.

“With many _military_ contacts, and you don’t see this as a risk to yourself? Not even just from him but potentially some wacky enhanced collecting Uncle Sam?”

“Clar, you know I would never put any of you in danger with my decisions. This would be my big quest not anyone else’s and if it does begin to work out none of you will be helpful. This isn’t monster hunting, it will be research, and work, and talking, and planning. Are you going to help? No, I need you to go to school. I need evidence that demigods are people for when the mortals get scared.”

“Cassie, that’s not the point.” Katie, please explain the point. “We’re not worried about this getting back to us. We’re worried about you. Specifically you. We know you can handle yourself just fine, but these are mortals and we- you can’t respond to those like a monster.”

Oh.

Right. They are worried about her specifically not camp.

She sighed, “Well, to that I can only say I have a very good feeling about this.”

It’s surprisingly easy to talk them around to her plans for them after that. Being trusted is nice.

The rest of the campers follow the lead of their head councilors who are following the lead of one very determined child of Nike. Poor world doesn’t stand a chance.


	3. The Council

Three days later has her dressed in the nicest clothes she owns sitting in the back of the camp van with Chiron who is currently crammed into his wheelchair for the ride over to the Empire State Building. She is going to address the Olympians directly and yet somehow she isn’t afraid.

She can’t believe that they agreed to meet with her on such short notice but here she is pulling up in front of the current entrance to Mt. Olympus with the biggest and potentially the most dangerous plan she has ever conceived. 

She doesn’t speak as she lowers the ramp for Chiron to come down with her.

She doesn’t speak when they go inside. Chiron has to address the desk manager so that they can go to the three hundredth floor. 

She doesn’t speak for the elevator ride.

She doesn’t speak during the walk through Olympus to Zeus’s palace all the way up to the council chambers even though she can feel the eyes of the minor gods and hear their whispers.

As the massive doors open, she takes a deep breath to settle into her calm. She is good at talking and planning. She is good at remaining calm and level headed. 

Chiron wishes her luck but remains near the entrance.

Cassandra enters Olympian council chambers, crosses to the middle of the room so she is surrounded by the towering gods who both save and damn her by existing, and bows to Lord Zeus. Not before noting that Apollo is curiously absent but her mother is there at Athena’s right hand.

“Dr. Cassandra Campeao, daughter of Nike. We know why you are here.” He says and his voice is _heavyheavyheavy_ on her body.

“Thank you for agreeing to speak with me, Lord Zeus.” She is still bowing.

“Rise.” He sounds so satisfied. 

The thing about the gods is that they are not so different from heroes but she can’t tell them that without being struck dead with a lightning bolt. They are capable of great arrogance and pride. And most importantly they hate being wrong. They are all traits she is guilty of as well and she is very self aware of that. It’s why she spends so much time with Chiron.

The point is, talking to the gods is easy so long as one remembers to present themself as aware of their lesser status and if they have a problem make sure the gods know it is through no fault of theirs. Hence the bowing and the gratitude.

She’s got this. Time to put on all of the airs. 

“The demigods have survived in obscurity and secrecy for centuries and yet now you want to overturn this practice.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Why?” Didn’t he say he knew why she was here?

“The current situation for the demigods is no longer sustainable, my lord.”

“That is a very bold claim, Cassandra.” Athena spoke next. With her heritage she usually has Athena in her corner. Actually everyone wants her mother’s favor and she benefits from that so long as she doesn’t step on any toes...

“It is true, my lady. With the advancement of mortal society going the way it is, we are being locked out. We will be forced into isolation like the Romans in Camp Jupiter or forced to live always looking over our shoulder if we want to advance in society.” Is she throwing the Romans to the wolves? Yes, but she needs to make it clear that she isn’t speaking for them. If they want in they can come to her. “Greeks are meant to wander to move and travel. Live. Please, do not ask us to cower behind magic barriers.” Was that too much pleading?

“Peace, we have not-”

“Now, hold on-” There we go. Ares has entered the fray.

“Ares!”

“No, no way am I allowing my kids to be reduced to cowards because of some mortal creations.”

“No one is accusing your children of being cowards.”

“They clearly think we’ll make them into cowards. Why shouldn’t they get to go out and try to take on the world? No way, my daughter is going to college.”

Ares is always good for stirring the pot, so she waits.

“They do not need to be known as demigods to go to college. Look. Cassandra did it.”

“My Lords and Ladies, if I may speak. I did manage my education very carefully. I was attacked during it and was blessed enough to not get caught or seriously injured when I was alone. However, six years ago the technology that is becoming commonplace and necessary was a luxury. I only needed to use it just long enough and could time it for safety. That will not be possible very soon.”

They don’t seem to care...okay hit their pride. 

Big guns.

“When was the last time a child of Athena was elected to a major office?” It was nearly a century ago, she checked.

“When was the last time a child of Ares held a high ranking position in the military?” It was during WWII and he was smart enough to have someone else field all of his calls and radio transmissions.

“When was the last time a child of Dionysus was praised by the world as a story writer?” It was in the 70s before movie magic became computer magic.

Legacy is such an important thing to the gods, it’s bragging rights which is important to load up on when one is immortal. Ultimately, this is Zeus’s court but if she can get his children on her side for this she has a better chance of swaying him.

“The world is going to leave us behind, destitute and starving.” She might be going a bit far, but they need to see this as saving the demigods not the demigods feeling slighted.

Lord Zeus spoke, “What exactly is it you are asking of the gods?”

Bingo.

She lets a hopeful smile slip onto her face, “Nothing, my lord. I ask nothing from the gods in this only that you allow me to proceed as I have planned.”

And she waits.

When she gets back to camp Will is going to need to give her ears a once over (read: clean and heal with a nectar wash) because the sheer weight of all of the gods talking over each other is painful. 

Cassandra held her head high though. She hoped that they would listen to her. And she hoped that she learned from her namesake who disrespected the gods and was forced to watch as her world fell apart because no one would listen to her warnings.

They argued back and forth for hours and she stood there waiting for Zeus to call them to attention and levy judgement. She couldn’t tell which way the argument was going to fall until Aphrodite spoke up.

“Should our children reveal themselves then surely the mortals would come to believe in us again as well. We could be prayed to openly again.” That was not something she had considered...but was it accurate? She really doesn’t get mortals most of the time, it’s hard when they have nothing in common. The ones she interacted with regularly during her education and through research are hardly typical.

The gods pounce on the concept, and well Cas was very aware of the gods being prideful and vain. She keeps her mouth shut though because it is not within her abilities to deliver followers and believers to the gods.

“Enough!” Cas winced as Zeus spoke, “We have reached a decision.”

“We will allow this plan to continue.” She fights to keep the elation off her face while she bows smoothly and gracefully.

“Thank you, Lord Zeus. I am grateful for the chance.”

“Hmph...be warned. Mind your ambition, child of Nike. Mind your pride, mind your arrogance or they’ll ruin you like all the other so called heroes.” It feels like a sentencing. It feels like damnations and it slips around her neck like a shackle.

She artfully holds back her retort and stays placidly bowed before the gods and wishes she could be Percy and jauntily call the king of the gods her uncle before dancing out the door. She isn’t though and waits for him to dismiss her before she turns and leaves the room.

For a moment after she leaves, she thinks that her mother will approach her. Will tell her that she is proud of her daughter’s accomplishments but they haven’t spoken since the day they helped resolve that conflict between her Greek and Roman selves. It wasn’t much of a talk. Her mother isn’t very nurturing, after all victory and success demand much and no one will hold anyone’s hand on the way to the top. 

She knows that. Which is why she doesn’t slow down as she and Chiron leave Olympus.

She doesn’t allow herself to bask in her success until she is in the back of the van with Chiron. That is when the laughter pours out and the tears because for the first time in weeks she feels like she has actually succeeded in something rather than simply survived it.

Chiron is smiling at her and he is proud of her and the rest of the world can wait until they get back to Long Island.


	4. The Introduction

Her plan is actually very simple. She already has plenty of research documented on demigod abilities and energy signatures. She has documentation on... _magic_...ugh. One day she will prove that it can be proven and done through science but until then fine it is magic.

She needs to organize it so that it can be presented quickly, likely five minutes maximum and then more in depth should her father choose to hear them out. 

She needs to be able to display her fellow demigods and some of their abilities but that’s easy. Many want to show off and she just needs to get permission from them to show their faces but keep their names out of it. Honestly, it’s the fun part because it turns into ridiculous leaps during a volleyball game and unnecessary jumps and spinning during some friendly spars.

It’s adorable and funny. It is clear that they are powerful but they are kids. Just kids. Her father has to believe that one point more than anything else.

So yes, her plan is very simple. She needs to get ten minutes alone with her father (who she must now refer to as Mr. Stark for the sake of her sanity) so that she can completely demolish his understanding of the world before his new one fully settles.

It’s kind of mean and underhanded but gotta strike fast. Her goal is two months from the Iron Man announcement. She figures, with the way the news has been all over his actions everytime he flies out to blow something up, she can get a better idea of who Mr. Stark is.

She also needed those two months to convince Chiron to go with her for the initial meeting, and she is still unsure how she is going to get that. It’s only a minor detail though so...she figures she can use the flight to LA to plan out that little detail.

And so it passes, that Dr. Cassandra Campeao packs with her a duffle bag, a drawstring and a backpack stuffed with all the demigod essentials. (She has a spare dagger stored and labeled in the to be checked luggage.) Her spear will come when she calls it so she doesn’t need to worry about that getting onto the plane. 

It’s not until they land at LAX, (Chiron had gotten creative with Mist manipulation so no one tried to move him from his wheelchair.) that she figures out how she wants to play the introductions.

“I need a laptop...and internet. Let's go find a mall.” 

“Perhaps, we could rent a van first. And find a place to stay for the duration of our time here first.” 

“And then mall after.”

One rent-a-van, one hotel, and two pizza’s later (1.7 of those pizzas were just for Cas) they have located an apple store in a mall. Which is just dandy. She prefers the custom rig she built back at camp but it isn’t like she could bring that with her on the plane. She was able to bring a hard drive with a couple of decryption protocols on it, though.

“Hey Mr. Brunner, do you mind if I check my facebook real quick while we’re here?” Code: Can you please make sure everyone thinks I am just messing around on a laptop while I try to slip into SI and ask for a meeting with Mr. Stark? You can? Great.

Getting to the personal email of Mr. Stark, the head of SI, is surprisingly easy and it leaves her very concerned because there are some serious loopholes that someone of her father’s infamy should not have but...in this moment she will thank the gods for the opportunity. 

_Hi Mr. Stark,_

_My name is Dr. Cassandra Campeao and I am in LA with my associate Mr. Brunner. I was hoping for ten minutes of your time while we’re here and while I’m at it I will offer to fix the weaknesses and backdoors in your firewall. It was really easy to get this address off your system._

_Thanks for your time,_

_Dr. Cas_

And send.

She cleans up and begins to wipe her presence from the laptop when a message pops up on the screen.

An address, date, and time for tomorrow morning. 

She sets the macbook to factory reset in five minutes then leaves with Chiron.


	5. The Meeting

She regrets everything.

Driving up the unnecessarily long driveway in freaking Malibu at nine o’clock in the morning should not be intimidating. She has fought in two potentially world ending conflicts and yet it is the concept of meeting her father who is not even going to learn of their connection has her hands shaking.

When they arrived the gates opened on their own so she drove right up towards the mansion. (A mansion because her father is a billionaire. The wealth wasn’t so intimidating from NY.) However since she is driving what amounts to a white unmarked van she parks a reasonable distance away from the door and gets out of the car. 

She’s only just opened the sliding door to let Chiron out when she hears it. The repulsors are deafening to her as the metal suit lands twenty feet away from her.

Iron Man.

She is frozen with her arms stretched out to help Chiron down but she can’t help but stare in awe.

It’s beautiful. She can hear the servos whine as he stands up in front of her.

Cassandra should be so scared right now. She really wants to touch it.

“Can I touch the suit?” Dammit “I mean hi, sorry, shit. Sorry, I totally broke into your server to send you an email but in my defense your firewall sucked.” Shut up, Cas.

“Dr. Campeao, I presume. What can I help you with today?”

Oh. Right. He sees her as a threat right now. She did hack into his email. And he has been blowing up terrorists for the last two months so she’s probably not helping herself by showing up in a van, but she really needed Chiron for this.

She grimaces, “We’re not allowed inside are we? Because there’s totally a video that’s part of the ten minutes I asked for.” 

“We’re staying outside.” Okay...okay, she can rework this.

“Okay, I’m just going to get my friend out of the van real quick.” Sorry, Chiron. She nimbly grabs the two support beams on the back of the wheelchair and leverages him out of the car then places him lightly on the ground next to her before stepping fifteen feet away into the open keeping her arms loose. (The wheelchair collapses Chiron’s volume but does nothing for the mass of his horse body. Mr. Stark doesn’t know about the horse body but she imagines it’s still impressive that a 135 lb young woman can lift a middle aged man in a wheelchair from a van.)

“Are you sure we can’t go inside for this?” She really wants to show off the video she worked on and the data she’s compiled. Is Chiron really just going to sit quietly for this? A quick glance at him tells her yes he is.

“Lady, if I wasn’t going to let you into my home before I sure as hell won’t now.”

She fails to suppress the flinch at his hostile tone. Showing off a bit of her strength did not help. _He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know who you are and you want it that way, remember?_

“Right, hi, my name is Dr. Cassandra Campeao and…” She gets a feeling. This is important. Pay attention. _Tell the truth._ “And I am the demigod child of Nike, the goddess of victory. I have come to you for help and I have data on a couple of hard drives that will corroborate everything I have to say.” 

The face plate on the suit pops open, “You have got to be kidding me.” This is not going well, “Kid, you invaded my system yesterday. Do you think I’m going to let any of your stuff in my stuff?” Well, when you put it that way. “Now, you start spouting crazy and you expect me to listen.”

“It was important that I meet with you as soon as possible.” She needs to salvage this. This was supposed to be her trump card and she really didn’t want to use it. “Chiron, a little help here.”

The old centaur just sighs at her before disengaging buckles left and right on his wheelchair. “Hey, Hot Wheels, what are you doing?”

She's not proud of this but she really cares about Chiron a lot. He’s her oldest mentor and caregiver so when Mr. Stark, her father, raises his hand towards him in a way that she has only seen in videos she doesn’t hesitate. 

Her spear is summoned, thrown in front of Chiron, and suddenly she is in front of Chiron in an entirely defensive stance. It takes two seconds.

Now Iron Man has his hand aimed at her, she is aiming at him (even though she can literally never harm him, not only is he a mortal but patricide? For a Greek that’s a huge no no.), and Chiron is pulling himself to his full height from his wheelchair.

“Mr. Stark,” Chiron places a soothing hand on her shoulder and she lowers her guard, “This is really a conversation that would best be had indoors.” 

“Horseman...J, what am I looking at here buddy?”

Queue disembodied voice, _“If Dr. Campeao is to be believed, you are looking at a centaur, sir.”_

“That’s what I thought.” His faceplate descends again and he flies off. That was a bust.

Shit. 

She dismisses her spear with a sigh.

Then the ghost voice comes back, _“If you would please grab what you need from your car and proceed to the front door I will guide you to a sitting area.”_

Okay. “‘Scuse me, what is your name?” She can’t let Ghost Voice be his permanent name.

“I am Javis, an AI that runs Mr. Stark’s estate.”

A real AI. Her eyes are about ready to bug out of her head but, “Jarvis, when we finish talking with Mr. Stark I really hope you’ll be open to answering some of my questions.”

“I would be delighted, Dr. Campeao.” Delighted. Wow. He is shockingly polite for an AI belonging to Mr. Stark. She wonders where he got his personality from. While she returns to the van to grab a bag containing some of her work, Chiron addresses Jarvis the AI.

“Would the master of the house prefer I return to my chair before heading inside?” Ah. Yes, that could be an issue.

“Mr. Stark, requests that you head inside as is.” Solves that problem.

He has an AI. Her father made and AI. An automaton without magic, proof of concept right there.

She is buzzing with excitement, nerves, and adrenaline but tries to maintain her composure like she did with Zeus only two months ago.

She moves steadily down the lit path and tries her damndest to keep her hands to herself, but this house is candyland with the way the technology is casually integrated with the house. It’s easily twenty years ahead of the rest of the world and it’s beautiful. 

“Mr. Stark requests that you wait for him here.” It's a sitting room not too far from the door. She’s a little disappointed that she isn’t allowed to venture further inside but she sits down and tries to make herself nonthreatening. Chiron stands casually at the edge of the room, not intruding and not too far away.

They wait for ten minutes. She really hopes that he doesn’t count that as their ten minutes and send her away. She decides to take full advantage of the fact that she is under surveillance and opens her bag so she can slowly pull out a couple of portfolios and data tables. She also pulls out a laptop (it’s a dinosaur but it’s all she has) and one of her many hard drives before closing the bag and putting it down on the other side of the couch from her.

She lays all of this out on the table in front of her and sits back to wait some more.

She is rewarded after another ten minutes of waiting with the sound of walking coming from down the hallway.

“I’d offer you a seat there, Secretariat, but I don’t think you can.” Oh gods. Is this how this is going to go? She quickly wiped her hands on her pants before slowly standing.

“I am fine where I am, Mr. Stark. I understand that this is much to take in so I will avoid crowding your foyer.” The unflappable Chiron, he works with kids.

She doesn’t know if she should try to shake his hand or not. He always looks cagey about it in interviews. Actually, fuck it.

“Are we going to do the typical professional greeting thing?” She mock reaches her hand in a pantomime of a shake. “Or should I just stay over here?”

“You’re good over there, self proclaimed mini god.” 

“Right,” Gods, she keeps saying that! “How do you want to start?”

“How about who you are and what you want?” 

She clicks her teeth together, “Mr. Stark, I gave you my full name and twenty four hours. You already know who I am but if you don’t I very much doubt you can help us and we should just go.”

“Ah kid has teeth, good. Now, what do you want?” Really?

“Fine, me and the others like me, of which there are many, are in danger of dying out via bloody, violent, and early deaths for the foreseeable future. I want your help to prevent that.”

“And you think I can help?” His tone, face, and posture just scream skepticism.

“Maybe, if you can’t I don’t have any other options. So hear me out? Or should we leave?” She tries to stand proud even as she notes the similarities between them. _They have the same eyes._ Cas really hopes he doesn’t notice simply because he isn’t looking for it. It would be a problem if he makes her. 

He stares at her like he’s trying to figure out how she ticks. She’s done everything to come across as not a threat today.

Her hair is in a dark crazy curly ponytail, there’s not a speck of makeup on her, her jacket and pants have zero pockets for concealment, and her t-shirt is a science pun about Schrodinger’s Cat. She is proudly wearing her camp necklace with eight beads on it, her only vanity.

“Okay, kid.” That is starting to rankle a little bit and it looks like he’s noticed if she is reading him correctly, “Show me what you’ve got.”

She sighs, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t agreed to anything”

“You’ve agreed to listen. That is a lot already.”

“Fair point. Start at the beginning.”

She snorts, “How about I start with what a god is?”

He spreads his arms magnanimously as he sits down across from her. She sits too leaving her hands visible in her lap, “The Olympian gods are a very powerful and old species of sentient energy. People in the ancient world had a need and the gods filled that need like an archetype in a story. A symbiotic relationship developed between the humans and the Olympians and well most every other creature in greek mythology.”

“They needed a divine being of justice. They got Zeus who strikes down the wicked with thunderbolts and so on and so forth with all of the other gods. Then the stories become more complicated and we get to interactions with the gods by humanity. This is where we get demigods, hi.” She waves to break up the lecture.

“The Olympians are immortal beings who derive their power from the belief of humanity and they return the favor by giving good favor and blessings on humans they like. No one other than the demigods offer prayers to the gods anymore but they are built conceptually into the foundation of western culture. The fundamental ideas of western society like democracy and medicine can find their origins in greek mythology and history and therefore the gods.”

“Are you with me still? I can’t tell. You’re all kind of,” She waves a hand in front of her eyes, “Stoney faced.”

“This is my ‘you’re insane’ face, but there’s a centaur in my living room so I’m just going to let this play out.”

She nods, “This is going better than I thought it would. I thought you would call the cops by this point, but I was hopeful. Let’s outline the issue and then on to the science I have brought as an offering.” She takes a deep breath and plunges on, “The natural enemy of a demigod is a monster. Not very descriptive but it’s a broad term. Harpies, gorgons, the minotaur are all real. They are physical embodiments of negative aspects of society like greed, hatred, and general undesirableness.”

“And they hate the gods because the gods are the gods, their polar opposites and the protectors of humanity who always win the fight. Gods are mighty and monsters are weak, mostly… Demigods are just humans plus extra. Anything that can kill a human can kill us. Anything that can kill a near immortal sentient can kill us.”

“So the monsters target you?” He can interact, people. Sound the applause.

She nods, “So the monsters target us. To find us they have to track us and it turns into an epic fight, always fun. If we die then we die, if we win and the monster goes back to tartarus. But a monster is a living idea not an organic being and you can’t kill an idea.”

“The monsters come back.” Is he coming around? Is she being convincing enough?

“Eventually, it takes time but they always come back and because humanity isn’t all butterflies and rainbows new ones are always being born too. Used to be that we could avoid them fairly easily, if we kept our heads down and didn’t use our gods given abilities too much we could blend in. And this is where you come into the picture.”

“I’ll bite, what changed?” He still looks skeptical but is more on the curious side than the ‘call the men with the white coat to arrest her for mad science’ side of things.

“The advent of technology. The Olympians, being living energy, give off a signal which can be detected, I’ve proven that in there.” She points at copies of her life’s work. “Since we are their children, demigods give off a weaker but still very much present energy. I also have that logged. It goes up as we age, as we become aware of our status, and as we use our abilities.”

“The more you fight off the monsters the stronger you become but you also attract them easier.”

“Yes, but again this was manageable, we could live our lives and fight off most of the monsters that turned up until wireless signal usage was invented.”

“Using wireless technology amplifies the signal you put off telling all the monsters in the area that there is demigod there regardless of whether or not you are actively being heroic or even a grown adult.”

“Grown is relative, we don’t typically have long life spans. If we make it to our teen years we can probably make thirty at least.” Unless they're a child of a particularly powerful god like the Big Three or the heavy hitting Olympians in which case they might make twenty one.

He looks stunned for a moment before speaking, “So, what exactly do you want me to do?”

“I want you to help me develop technology that's insulated against the demigod energy signature. Once done, I plan on supplying other demigods with it so that they can safely attend school and develop careers. I plan to enable us to have a communications network so that we can call for help easily in the event that we are found out. The endgame is for us to live long enough to become entrenched in society so that we can come forward about what we are without fear and have people be used to us.”

There is a lull in the conversation as she waits for him to respond.

“You want me to help you and your secret society come out of the closet.” She really tries, but she can’t help it. She laughs. She laughs deep and full bodied so that she leans forward and puts her head to her knees. After the whirlwind of her last year, this is what she gets from the man she wants help from.

“Yes, Mr. Stark. That is exactly what I want from you.” She is grinning at him and she can feel Chiron’s visible disapproval from across the room. It’s worth it though because Mr. Stark gives her a tiny barely there smile.

She sobers up a bit before pointing at his table, “That represents the sum total of my research on this problem. Well, not the dinosaur. The dinosaur is out because you mentioned you didn't want any of my software near yours after yesterday. Which is fair, sorry about that.”

“Compared to Mr. Ed over there, someone helpfully pointing out the flaws in my security in a friendly way is hardly a priority.” He reaches over and snaps up the first of the portfolios she brought and she settles in quietly to wait and answer questions.

It’s weird. Science mode Tony Stark is very different from press mode Tony Stark and she decides that she likes this a whole lot better. He’s serious, his questions are sincere, and he included both her and Chiron in the conversation.

He’s a little confused by the concept of selective dyslexia but she explains it as a predisposition for a type of coding but with practice it can be written over. She still has issues with it if she goes too long without sleep but it hasn’t stopped her from becoming a polyglot. Greek and Latin were easy and since Silena, being a daughter of Aphrodite, came preloaded with French Cas learned from her.

Somehow the concept of the Mist, and how people see what they want to see is very easy for him to accept. “People are idiots.” Is all he says about it.

Magic in general makes him uncomfortable but he’s in line with her belief that it can be proven scientifically.

He gets through the hard copies in about an hour, so he knows empirically what he’s working with now, then he moves to her dinosaur. “If I use this in front of you, am I going to have to deal with a fire breathing dragon coming through my door.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’d never find a dragon in this topography, it’s too flat for them.” He looks mildly alarmed. “No, recent...unfortunate events have left the monster population at an all time low, for now. And you read my work. You know it takes time for them to start moving in. We’re pretty far from any centers that would have them in any kind of significant number. The ones that do live in isolated areas tend to want to stay where they are. We find them by accident.”

“Cities and predictable routines are both helpful and dangerous for you.”

Chiron takes this one, “For a demigod, being both helpful and deadly is a common concept they have to wrestle with.”

By now the dinosaur has booted up, his old fan is loud and proud as it keeps the processor cool to the best of its ability. She cringes when Mr. Stark grimaces at the sound. But the dinosaur is loyal and he’s all she has for on the go. 

The first thing to pop up is the video which opens with the Stoll twins jumping six feet vertically on opposite sides of a net to go for a spike. She doesn’t say anything she just lets it play out for a few minutes so he can see what she and her people can do.

Until she hears her own laughter on the screen and her voice mimicking an English accent, “ _Anakin my allegiance is to the Republic! To Democracy!_ ” Oh gods, no. Why her? What did she do to deserve this?

“Chiron! That is not supposed to be on there! Why is that there? Oh dammit. I’m sorry. I wanted you to see who and what you would be helping. Chiron!” She’s whining. She knows she is but dammit she wanted to be professional. 

“He will be helping you too if he accepts.” That doesn't make her feel better about listening to the lightsaber duel occurring between her and Charlie Beckendorf in the background.

Absolutely zero help. “Mr. Stark, you can close that if you want to.”

“Oh no, this is very educational.” Oh yes, watching seventeen year old Cassandra reenact the final fight from Revenge of the Sith after declaring it the most beautiful lightsaber battle ever using lightsabers even though she had her access to actual swords. At least Mr. Stark is enjoying himself now. “Did you make those lightsabers?”

Mortification, thy name is Cassandra, “Yes, they ended up breaking though because we swung them too hard.” 

“She made new ones. They are much more durable than the previous model.” She groaned into her hands. 

“Chiron, you’ve betrayed me. This is betrayal. I’m scandalized. I’ll never recover emotionally or physically.” She's babbling but she's incredibly embarrassed right now and she's never handled that emotion well.

“ _It’s over Anakin! I have the high ground!”_

 _“You underestimate my power.”_ Surprisingly enough, it doesn't hurt to hear her friend's voice again but she does want to slam that computer shut.

 _“Don’t try it.”_ Cas doesn't have a convincing English accent...

“Ouch! Did you have to kick him off the roof like that? That is a rough landing. Is he okay?” He's dead.

Ugh memories. She recorded this with Charlie probably a month after the movie came out. He loved Star Wars as much as she does now. “He was fine,” Because Selena kissed it better. She misses them.

“I’ll do it.” What? “You’re just kids. So, I’ll do it.” That was the goal but she is still surprised he said it so simply.

“You will? I mean- that’s amazing we are going to need to set up some kind of deal so that we can buy the finished product from SI. And we need a place where we can work because I don’t have any equipment here, really everything is held together with sheer willpower back home. That’s not to say it isn’t accurate, it’s all well maintained.”

“Kid, kid, you are going to need to slow down. With regards to you paying for any of this, we will get to that much later. After development. We can work here for that part. I don’t want any of this,” He waved his hand at the table, “on SI servers.” 

She nods happily. This is amazing she cannot wait to get started. 

“There is one other caveat.” She tilts her head, “You are going to be around a lot and production on this scale is not feasible to hide. So, I am going to need to bring in some other people.”

And there goes the good humor, Clarisse’s warning about an enhanced stealing Uncle Sam rings in her ear.

“Whatever you are thinking, they are not like that. I am keeping this and the security footage for today and I am going to present it to three people in my home and nothing is going to leave with them if they choose not to get involved.”

She relaxes and tries to think about whether or not this is worth the risk, but she has no bad feelings. No danger meter going off telling her that her goal is under threat.

“Who are they to you?”

“My assistant, Ms. Pepper Potts. My driver/bodyguard, Happy Hogan. And my trusted friend, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes.” It’s good to see that he gives truth for truth and understands that she is way on the limb here, but...

“Military?” That could be an issue.

“Mr. Stark, Dr. Campeao’s concerns are reasonable. We have had issues in the past with mortals taking an...inhumane interest in demigods. They didn’t know they had a demigod but they did think they had a living weapon.” Chiron shifted uncomfortably and his tail swished behind him. It’s the true measure of his discomfort about this topic.

His face goes black and sharp, “I am no longer in the business of providing weapons to the military and even if I was, superpowered children are not going to be weapons. If I believed Rhodey was the kind of person to be involved in unethical government experiments we would not be friends.” Scary. Very scary. But also reassuring.

In for a penny, then, “Alright, Mr. Stark.” She gets up and holds out a hand for him to shake and she is surprised when he doesn’t hesitate to return it. “So, do you want to keep the dinosaur too?”

“No, take that fossil out of here and don’t bring it back. You are collaborating with me. You’re getting something better.” Ummm… nope.

“Look, I will happily borrow anything and return it in the same condition but please don’t give me anything as charity or something if you’re feeling bad for me. I’m awesome, I don’t need handouts.”

“Tell you what, you two come back tomorrow afternoon around three and we can get started.”

She feels like she just took a very important and very dangerous step but it also feels so worth it.

When she and Chiron return to the van and get him loaded up, she feels just as successful as she did after speaking to the gods. She doesn’t cry this time though.


	6. The Audience

They spend the morning apartment hunting for her. Chiron refuses to leave her staying at a hotel the whole time citing money but she thinks that he doesn’t trust the owner. The old dude did spend a fair amount of time staring at them.

They end up abusing the power of the internet to locate a fifth floor walk-up a little under and hour from Mr. Stark’s Malibu mansion. It’s nothing fancy but it has the necessities and a spare room so she takes it. Chiron ends up abusing the power of the Mist so she can rent and move in right away (for a fair rush fee) and so that he can quickly help her in.

Everything else she needs to survive independently is quickly purchased nearby, along with enough food to feed her demigod metabolism for at least two weeks. It’s a heavy spending day for her and Cas is grateful that she’s never been a frivolous spender.

They eat, they clean up, and they load up the van again to head back to the mansion.

The driveway is still unfairly intimidating to her but she dutifully drives to the front of the house before getting out of the car. “Hi again, Jarvis. Sorry we didn’t get to have that conversation before I left yesterday.”

 _“Good afternoon, Dr. Campeao.”_ So cool.

“Is it okay that we park here?”

 _“Yes, when you are ready please proceed to the sitting room as you did yesterday.”_ As you did yesterday...she chose to assume that meant leaving the wheelchair behind.

This time she opened the back door and pulled down an improvised ramp so that Chiron could bring himself down. By the time she has the van closed up again, Chiron is free and stretching his legs so that they can go inside.

She hesitates at the door.

Realistically, she knew that this...quest of hers would involve meeting mortals and bringing them into the fold so to speak but there are new ones she knows nothing about in there.

“Deep breath Cassandra,” Chiron is a life saver, “You are committed to this path. Do not deviate.”

She knows that too. She's a child of victory and she will not lose.

She opens the door to allow Chiron in (it should be noted that he doesn’t need to duck much) and follows behind him. 

When they make it back to the sitting room Chiron resumes his spot by the entryway, apart but present. Exactly where she needs him.

Compared to a centaur, she isn’t a very impressive sight and since the new faces are staring at Chiron instead of her she gets first dibs on observing them.

The woman, she assumes, is Pepper Potts. Cas thinks she’s seen her on tv a few times near sightings of her father. Despite the shock on her face, she looks very professional and beautiful. Like one of those powerful women that ends up in Forbes or something. She decides immediately that emulating this woman is a great idea for Future Cassandra. 

The other man in the room, well she doesn’t know his name for certain, but he doesn’t look military. If that is a thing. So, she assumes this must be Happy. She of course is consumed by nerves at this moment and her brain goes off on a tangent. Who would name their child Happy? Because of this, when she opens her mouth in an attempt to introduce herself the first thing that comes out is.

“Is your name really, Happy?” Because of course, of course it is. The stress is getting to her. It's a different kind of stress than what she's used to dealing with and she hasn't decided how she feels about that yet.

This stupid question being the first thing out of her mouth is going to become a problem. When did this even start? She used to be a paragon of maturity. Okay, that is a lie but her mouth did not run away from her like this a few weeks ago. Her father is ruining her. Or is it just mortals in general? Wasn’t an issue at MIT.

It does however bring the full attention of the room from Chiron onto her making her hesitate under the scrutiny. A room of mortals that know what she is is a new experience for her.

“Ms. Potts, Happy may I present you with Dr. Campeao, the mini goddess and Pokey, the centaur.” Her father is a showman. Any and all dramatics she has ever been accused of can be blamed on him.

“Hello,” she gives a small wave, “Umm...you can call me Cassie, or Cas, or Cassandra. It really doesn’t matter.” No one says anything so she just awkwardly rocks back on her heels and waits. She’d rather face the Laconian drakon again than deal with this to be honest. But Chiron is right, she’s committed.

Happy doesn’t move. He stares at her like she may attack them at any moment and she tries not to take offense because he is a bodyguard and it’s his job.

It’s Ms. Potts that surprises her. The woman calmly stands up, crosses the room, and offers Cas her hand.

“Cassandra, it’s nice to meet you. Come in and sit down then we can start talking.” Then she turns to Chiron. “Mr. Brunner was it?”

“Chiron is fine, Ms. Potts.”

“Of course, Chiron, is there any way we can better accommodate you?” Hail Ms. Potts, savior of awkward demigods.

“No, thank you. I will be fine over here.”

Then she leads Cassandra over to the couch and sits next to her. Next to her. Like right next to her. This woman is a saint and a blessing and she is keeping her. Done deal.

“To answer your question, Cassandra, his name is Harold but everyone calls him Happy.” There is a story behind that but she doesn’t ask.

“Okay, so Mr. Stark. I take it you have shown them everything relevant then.”

“Everything, including your foray into Hollywood.” She groaned into her hands. This man doesn’t even know he’s her father. What in Hades is this?

The rest of the room is kind enough to let her recover her dignity in silence.

“If you’ve seen everything I brought then I assume you have questions.” But first, “I did think there was supposed to be another person here, Colonel Rhodes?”

“Rhodey’s out of the country right now, I’ll fill him in when he gets back.” Right, there are many executive decisions being made around her right now and she's not sure about it.

“Then let’s get started. What’s first?” She glances around the room waiting for the first taker.

“I wanna know about this Mist thing. How’s that work?” Happy is going for intimidation. She tries not to be amused because big people trying to be pushy is not new for her. It’s familiar and the story of her life.

“For that I have to start with the reason why we receded from mainstream society.”

“Yeah, there wasn’t much in your homework assignment about how a society of enhanced individuals vanished from history, kid.” Well, if he really wants to know.

“Chiron are you doing story time today or are you sticking to moral support?”

“You’re doing fine, Cassandra.” So helpful. 

Whatever.

She can do this herself.

“I don’t want to play the blame game here, but it’s the Christian’s fault.”

She gets a sigh from Chiron (Well, he should have done the history lesson today if he doesn’t like her methods. She was in full lecture mode yesterday.), two sets of confused looks, and a nod from Mr. Stark.

“Demons and Heretics?”

“Exactly, after the Edict of Milan, which I have nothing against, believe what you want, Christianity took off. Then though, after it gained momentum the believers became intolerant of other systems and started to tear down and repurpose temples and statues. Demigods were believed to be demons and witches and if we were captured it led to public executions by stoning, hanging, or whatever they could come up with.”

“Superpowers didn’t help you out there?” She appreciates the fact that there is no pity or sympathy in his voice. This is ancient history as far as she's concerned. She lets Chiron answer that though.

“Regardless of whether or not the mortals are cruel, the duty of a demigod is the protection of Olympus. Olympus is powered by the beliefs and prayers of humanity which was explained yesterday. Killing a mortal is a high offense for a demigod and requires a great amount of explanation to avoid punishment. It is only under the gravest of circumstances that it is acceptable for a demigod to take a mortal life.”

“Such as?”

“Sanctioned battle where both sides have entered knowing that death is a possibility. An angry mob is hardly a danger to a trained demigod so there is no justification to harm them if they cannot get away. The punishment that would be levied on them by the gods would be far more severe than anything the mortal could do and it could deny them entry to Elysium on top of that.”

“Christ,” Ms. Potts says, “You had to roll over and die or be punished worse for fighting back?”

Cassandra decides it’s time to take over the narrative again because this is too heavy.

“It was a dark time. Moving on. The gods realized that their children were dying out and it’s not like they were going to stop having them because it’s the gods so instead they banded together with Hecate, the goddess of magic, to craft the Mist. It is a nebulous barrier that pushes the mortal mind to see what it wants or expects to see.” Again, Mr. Stark is nodding but the other two look confused.

“It alters the perception of the world around you so if a demigod now is walking down the street with a sword, you would see a rolled up poster or an umbrella because that makes more sense to you than a sword. It’s not that powerful though and all it takes is some general awareness of it and you can see through it. Like a Jedi mind trick. Does that answer your question, Happy?”

“Sure, global Jedi mind trick.” If that is how he wants to remember it.

“Are you…? Cassandra is you being here going to bring monsters and gods here?” Fair question from Ms. Potts.

“No, Ms. Potts.” She doesn’t want to get into that.

“How can you be so sure?” She seems to want some reassurance. How to explain without being an ass?

Chiron saves her, “As far as the gods are concerned, since this is a venture to overturn centuries of their own work they won’t be helping but they won’t be interfering either. They respect the united decision of their children on this.” Good answer, “As far as monsters are concerned, you are very safe.” No Chiron, no. “Cassie is one of the greatest fighters I have ever had the pleasure of training and I have been training demigods in self control since the times of Hercules himself.” Ugh...that spoiled son of Zeus. Mr. I-murdered-my-family-in-a-fit-anger got to earn his forgiveness with some trials because his father is the god of Justice. Temporary insanity? Nope. Then he got a godhood out of it and tried to kill her and the others in Gibraltar during the Gigantomachy. Not a fan. 

“At this point in her life, most monsters will actively avoid a confrontation with her unless in vastly superior numbers. And monsters do not work well together.” Unless of course they have some kind of Titan or Giant to force them into submission but those are all in an immortal torture prison so don’t worry.

Cassandra makes no eye contact and looks around the room. She even contemplates whistling. Chiron is bragging about her to her father and his trusted people. Dammit, you stupid horse.

“Kiddo, were you planning on holding out on us?” The mock scolding is what breaks the tension.

“Didn’t want to intimidate you, Mr. Stark. Seems like you're always the biggest big in the room so I figured you wouldn’t appreciate being upstaged by a kid.” She returns in the same tone and gets a smile(?) in return. Does this man enjoy when she is rude to him?

The conversation continues and Cas is amazed at how accepting this group seems to be. Maybe it’s because they're smart mortals, or maybe it’s because her father is Iron Man and mind blowing weirdness is par the course for them.

She’s not complaining about it.

About two and half hours later her stomach lets out an embarrassing noise. She was nervous during lunch so she didn’t eat enough. She's regretting that now.

“Ah sorry, can we continue this another time?” She can make herself keep going like during a quest when there isn’t alway food available and she can nibble on some Ambrosia to keep up her strength. But she does prefer to eat people food when available.

“J, put in an order for some pizza for five. Actually, Secretariat? Do you eat pizza?”

“I teach children in New York, Mr. Stark.”

“So, yes.”

“Actually, can I make my own separate order?” This is going to be embarrassing.

“What? Got any special requests? Just tell Jarvis. He knows everyone’s orders already. Just add yours.”

“It’s not that. I…” How to phrase that she can devour two pizzas on her own and then have cheesecake and then run off like nothing happened. “I eat a lot.”

She gets multiple bland looks. 

“I believe what Cassandra is trying to say, is that demigods eat more than mortals.”

“How much more are we talking about here?”

“The average inactive demigod tends to need about five thousand calories per day.”

“And an active one like Cassie over there.” She looks down blushing in mortification.

“With the Children of Nike being the fastest of the demigods and Cassandra herself being more active than most on top of that it is important for her to consume at least twelve thousand per day. We have means to supplement the food at camp so it is more energy rich but we don’t have that here.” 

She can feel the eyes on her.

“It can be quite the fight to pull her out of her little work world and put a meal in her.” Chiron! 

No.

Mean.

She is an adult. Fully functioning and great at surviving and taking care at herself.

She hopes that the glare she throws at the centaur communicates all of this. He smiles kindly at her so she knows it did. Dammit.

“Cassandra, I will be returning to NY probably tomorrow. You can hardly expect me to allow you to starve yourself through over working.”

She sniffs pointedly and dismisses him, “Anyway Mr. Stark. I eat more than the average and I really feel bad making you pay for enough food to feed a small family just for me. And then have you watch me consume two pizzas to myself.”

It’s Ms. Potts who takes this question, “Where does it go?” Her eyes are glossing over her form in...is that envy? And confusion. 

“It goes to a bottomless void Ms. Potts. But my brain and muscles need a lot of fuel.” Whole lot of fuel. 

“Right, two extra cheese extra pepperoni for the Black Hole. Anything else?”

She sighs but she knows she’s lost, “A large coke and a slice of cheesecake.” Because now she’s thinking about it dammit.

It seems like the adult crowd has had enough of the serious topics and they stray into the lighter topics while waiting for the food to arrive. Or at least they try too. There was no way Ms. Potts could have known that she was stepping on a proverbial minefield when she asked, “Cassandra, you mentioned that Nike is your mother, but who's your father? He must be very proud.” Oh, she means well but Cas freezes. 

They had been doing so well. Talking about her time at MIT and how stumping professors is a right of passage and embarrassing the squishy egoed old people is a cruel pleasure.

“Cassandra’s father is unaware that she exists and they have never spoken as parent and child.” So carefully phrased, so carefully true. 

“But I thought...you said that the goddesses bring their demigod child to the mortal father like the stork.” She doesn’t answer. She doesn’t want to talk about it but they are looking at her and waiting. And Chiron please take the wheel. 

“Hers is an entirely unprecedented set of circumstances. One that is still puzzled over and remains a concern of Olympus because it has never been solved and one that they are still quite raw about. Someone stole into Olympus when Cassandra was only a few days old and took her before she could be presented to her father and given his name and protection.”

Honestly, her father may have taken one look and ran. Doesn’t seem the raise and nurture type.

“Who took her?”

“We don’t know who they are. We do know that they had some ambitious designs for the world using Cassandra at the head.”

She snorts, “They wanted me to be their new Alexander of Macedon, Chiron. That’s not ambition, it's insanity. I got away from them when I was twelve and...things happened.” Those details will stay between her and Chiron. No one else ever. No one needs to know. “I escaped and not long after my loud and now very free demigod presence drew some attention. Mother found me, explained a few things, gifted me with some supplies, and sent me off to find Chiron.”

They look like they want to ask more questions but she is not feeling it, “Hey Jarvis, will the pizza be here soon? I am wasting away over here.”

But Ms. Potts won’t let it go, “Do you know who your father is?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you never…”

“I found out when I was sixteen and by then I was independent and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I have my fellow demigods. It’s enough. When I first arrived I was given my last name from a previous child of Nike, who was technically my sibling.” These people are getting a whole lot of information out of her in a short amount of time. She realizes that honesty with them is going to help her achieve her goals faster but she's done bleeding herself for the day. If they want to know about demigods in general she is game but her level 12 backstory is off limits now.

“Sir, the food has arrived.” Thank you, you beautiful machine.

Dinner is considerably lighter than the preshow conversation wise and it remains that way. The audience has wisely decided to keep to curious questions about demigods in general or Chiron and giving her a wide berth. She still feels like a zoo animal as she tries to moderate her eating and drinking speed.

“Why don’t any of you become professional athletes?”

“That would be cheating.” She answers between bites.

“Why? It’s not like you’re doping.” Happy is a strange man.

“It would be vain and glory seeking to do it in front of an audience when the opposition literally has no chance. And it's not like there would be much worth praising.” No fun, not fair, not honorable. All three check out demigods probably won’t do it. “Would you cheer watching NFL play against peewees?” She hopes not.

“But it’s fair for you to use your brains and skills to beat out everyone else?”

She shifts and almost hides in her pizza (she would if she could), “I’m not just doing this for me though. Yeah, I benefit but it’s not about laurels and awards though I do like them if I earn them. I’m brilliant. I’m educated. I’m determined. I can do this. So I will.” No more dead kids. That’s what it comes down to: one hundred and fifteen pyres on a beach and she never wants to light another one in her life.

“You’ll fit right in around here with that attitude.”

Well then, she’ll take that as a compliment.

She goes back to her food and the audience is nice enough to wait while she finishes up her cheesecake at a nice sedate pace. She sits back and wipes her hands before waiting to see what these mortals have for her next. She hopes it's not more sticks poking at her mental health.

There is a reason she spends so much time talking to Chiron. He’s a professional.

“Come on, Dr. Campeao.” What? What is Mr. Stark doing? “Lab time. We need to calibrate some scanners for demigod. I already based it on what you gave me to work with but we can make it more specific.” Oh now? 

She is going into Mr. Stark’s private lab. _She’s going into her father’s private workshop._

“Secretariat, you coming or staying?”

“I think I'll stay up here, if that is agreeable to everyone?” 

Mr. Stark just waves him off and walks away.

“Also, mini goddess, don’t think I’ve forgotten about that disappearing and reappearing spear from yesterday. I want scans of that too.” Okay fair, she did pull it on him yesterday.

“It’s the Spear of Leonidas.” He jolts between steps for just a second before continuing with her behind him like a duckling.

“Fancy.” Of course, it is.

Cassandra has seen many things in her long-for-a-demigod life. She's seen Olympus and she's seen Tartarus. She has seen titans and giants and dragons. She has never seen such a beautiful playland in her entire life. So of course as has been the trend, she blurts out the first stupid question her brain comes up with.

“Can I just move in here? I’ll pay rent.”

“Not currently taking housemates, try again next never.”

She has a witty comeback but then she sees the car. It’s a little classic roadster and it is calling her like a damn siren. She is so beautiful and Cas must see the engine. It is a primal need she will die if she doesn’t get a closer look.

“This is a 1932 Ford Flathead. She’s gorgeous. Does she run? Don’t answer that of course she does she’s here. Wow.” She doesn’t really get to work on cars much. Getting a car into camp is risky enough because teenagers, and while she does maintain the vans...they’re vans. She has her bike that no one will touch under pain of Cas-will-kick-your-ass. Hermes children stay far, far away.

A hologram pops up in front of her displaying the current engine read out and she nearly coos. It’s perfect, “It’s like she’s fresh off the assembly line.” Yay. 

She turns to see Mr. Stark looking very amused at her expense, “Right, work time.” She backs away from the car, “I’ll come back for you.” She whispers dramatically and then claps once to center herself back in the present. “Where do you need me?”

“There is fine.” She follows his hand to an open space. “J, start the Olympian protocol.”

 _“Very good, sir.”_ She doesn’t blink or flinch as the various scanners are projected from Jarvis. It takes all of three minutes. It’s a fraction of the time her custom rig took back home. She’s jealous. _“Alright kid, pull out that spear. J, pay attention.”_

When she first won this spear five years ago it took ages for her to be able to call and dismiss it at will. It's not like Percy’s Riptide and Thalia’s Aegis that have disguised forms. This spear is an Olympian weapon gifted to Leonidas by the gods to slay monsters and men alike. Long story short, the spear is energy based like an Olympian and it gets tied to its owners personness. 

She had to get used to calling on her own particular kind of Cassandraness to call it to her person and learn to pull on it’s unique spearness to go to it over short distances. 

There was a whole lot of embarrassment and fainting from over exhaustion before she figured out that she spends the same amount of energy getting somewhere by spear warp as she would getting there the old fashioned way. The fail videos are a staple at camp when a pick me up is needed. She’s not ashamed. Documentation is important in science.

All of this is included in the information she gave to Mr. Stark yesterday (minus the fail videos) so she imagines he wants to confirm her story or he wants to attack magic too. Either way she's game for this.

As always, it comes when she calls. It’s a familiar and soothing weight in her hand and she can’t resist twirling it a bit. Other than that, she dutifully remains still for Jarvis but when he is done...well. All of this talking has been getting boring and the ceilings are about twenty feet up so she has some room to move. 

She grins impishly at Mr. Stark before flipping her spear into the air and following after it. “Make sure you get this, Jarvis!” What follows is five minutes of her having ‘near misses’ of the equipment while she artfully darts around the space. Mr. Stark gives up telling her to avoid this or that thing after the first minute. She’s got this.

If Cas comes out of her final roll with a little more flare than she would normally display then no one has to know.

“That is enough of that, kid.”

“What? You showed off your suit literally the instant you met me. I was very patient.” False, she’s been showing off since the email.

“Uhuh, whatever, get out of my house. I have what I need to start with. Shoo. Come back in a week.” She gets to come back. This totally counts as a win.

She'll hold on to this one forever.


	7. The Offer

When they leave, she drives to the car rental joint to exchange the van for a car. Before walking to a more secluded location with Chiron.

“You know I could ship the wheelchair back for you. That way you don’t have to carry it the whole time.” Cas can’t imagine it’s comfortable having it strapped to his back like that.

“I’d rather not have to wait for it to cross the country and potentially horrify people. It was bad enough that I was answering questions for Jarvis with regards to its construction.” Yeah, that would be a problem.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, “Thank you for all of your help on this Chiron.”

“You will always have help, Dr. Campeao. Though I do wish you would take my advice with regards to your father.”

No. 

No thanks.

Hello unnecessary complication, please continue on your way.

“Chiron, I don't think it's necessary to tell him nor do I want to tell him. That is not likely to change.” 

The old centaur just stares at her for a moment before responding, “Alright Cas, do it your way. But remember to be open and aware of change. You are one person and you cannot control everything.”

Oh Chiron, that won’t stop her from trying to control as much as she can.

“I will. Goodbye for now, I’ll be in touch.” She turns around and does not look back. She does not hesitate and she does not slow down. She has made her choices. 

She is Dr. Cassandra Campeao, daughter of Nike, and she does not lose.

~~~

“Alright Dr. Campeao, are you ready to show off?” Is she? Hells yes. He may not know it but this is a once in a lifetime chance to show her father what she can do.

She just grins instead, “Absolutely,” He wants numbers on strength, endurance and speed and that’s fine she can do that. He’s had the bots open the room up fairly large and put some mats down so she jogs right over to limber up a bit before they get started. “You know, Mr. Stark, I’m kind of surprised you’re taking such an interest beyond just the project itself.” She’s a little tight from the drive over.

She sinks sharply into a split before rolling back and reaching for her toes. Then she jumps up into a few test kicks and proceeds to tumble and flip across the mats to test their give. They're softer than what she has at Camp Half-Blood so a win for now, “Alright, I’m ready. So what’s first?”

He’s staring at her weirdly before shaking his head to clear it, “That. I want footage of you doing your Anastasia Liukin thing.” She huffs but doesn't argue. She knows she’s not as artistic looking as a mortal gymnast but she can tear up a floor for this. This needs to look good, so she makes sure she enjoys flipping and rolling and comes to a stop after about eight minutes after completing a double layout.

“You know, it’s too bad that there isn’t enough room for uneven bars, Mr. Stark. Those are my favorite. I can launch myself absurdly high like I’m flying. The first time I did it I scared the hell out of Chiron, but I regret nothing.” She lightly did a cartwheel before easing back into some stretching but he didn’t say anything. “Mr. Stark?” When she turns he’s looking at her like she’s some kind of alien.

“Gees kid, warn a guy next time.” Warn him? For what? 

The rest pass similarly. Her ability to bench press what amounts to a small car has him cursing. “I can lift more than that Mr. Stark. Haven’t you ever read the Iliad? One Trojan hero actually threw a whole tower at a greek squadron.” She chooses not to mention the time that Percy almost caused Mt. Saint Helens to erupt. It’s the speed tests that really get him though. 

“You remember that my mother is Nike, right? I’m not the most powerful demigod, Mr. Stark, but I’m definitely the most athletic and the fastest.” But seeing is believing and watching her break 60 mph on an all out sprint using a treadmill not originally meant for those speeds has her laughing. “I think that we’ll need to custom the equipment if you want more exact figures.”

“Right, go sit. Question time.”

“Not food time?”

“Food time after, questions first.”

“Por que no los dos?”

“Because not in my lab, minigod.” She pointedly looks at the few scattered dishes in the room.

“Smoothie then,” She can compromise.

“Fine, smoothie then questions.” He pours himself a drink from the decanter on the desk. She thinks it’s whiskey but life hasn’t really afforded her the opportunity to learn these things.

There’s chocolate sauce and peanut butter and she may love this man that is her father just a little bit for that. So while Jarvis analyzes the data on the scope of her abilities, she gets to casually sip her smoothie and watch Mr. Stark stare off into the middle distance and think. Well since he’s not paying attention she decides to observe a little closer.

It’s weird because while she’s only just met him in person a week ago, Mr. Stark looks really kind of tired, pale, and... gaunt? Compared to how he looks in the news and the media. Good make up artist maybe? Silena did teach her about how important it is to maintain appearances when in the spotlight. Show a bit of weakness and she sharks descend and all that, not her business really but she is curious. 

“Just curious,” Family trait apparently, “Say you did compete in the Olympics,” yeah, no. That’s not happening. “How many medals could you bring home?”

If she competed against the mortals that would be such a cheat, “Uh...let’s see. I could win most of them, except the equestrian categories. There’s not really a point there.” It’s a fact, a mortal vs her is not fair competition. “Also shooting, I’ve got a bit of a thing about guns but archery is fine. It would be cheating though since I’m human plus extra and all that.”

“And you said you’re not the most powerful demigod.”

“Yep,” Oh, she just got a peanut butter chunk in her smoothie.

“Care to elaborate on that?” She looks at him as if he’s stupid, “I’m not asking for names here. Just...broad strokes.”

Broad strokes huh? He is her father, even if he doesn’t know it so she can probably break it down a little bit more for him.

Where to start? “Fine, so you know that in the pantheon there are the twelve major gods, the Olympians,” she waits for him to nod, “and then there are the hundreds of minor gods. Like for bountiful harvest, or major bodies of water and rivers. Well, all of them fall under the dominion of the twelve Olympians who are the most powerful.”

“So any of their kids are the most powerful.”

“Sort of, it’s complicated. Apart from the twelve we also have the brother kings, Poseidon with the Sea, Hades in the underworld, and Zeus on his throne in Olympus. Obviously, Zeus is the most powerful and his children have the greatest raw potential power of all demigods with Poseidon and Hades being so close you can barely tell the difference. And the other seven, Hera would never have a demigod child since she’s the goddess of matrimony and Artemis is out, have the potential but usually they don’t have the...drive I guess.” She tries to think of a way to do this. “It’s like a person could do a hundred pushups a day and get ripped or whatever but why would a...a neurosurgeon waste time on that when they can pioneer their field.”

"They have the mentality for specific traits and focus their ability there.”

“Exactly! Apollo’s kids are whiz archers and medics, many ended up in medicine historically, but while they could most don’t take the time to learn about a sword or tactics and deeper sciences. They have no interest, I don’t want to call it a waste but…well they shouldn’t have to protect everyone if they don’t want to.”

“Where do you fit in on this?” 

Where does she fit in on this?

“My mother is a bit more abstract in how she has been defined and worshipped over the years. While she never got any temples and holidays, everyone prays to the goddess of victory and success. She’s skill, ambition, and drive personified. Athletes, kings, and sailors all prayed to her and made offerings. She is one of Zeus’s charioteers and she’s often depicted in the right hand of Athena, a war and strategy goddess.”

“And her kids?”

“Typically, if we live we’re peak athleticism by thirty five years old and tend to be successful in what we put our minds to because we can feel the paths and choices to achieve our goals. It’s like GPS for life choices. If I want to become strong enough to lift a bus, and I’ve never tried so don’t ask, I probably could get there. It's just a matter of time and whether or not I see it as necessary.” It would be a total waste of time though because she has so many other things to do other than lift.

She trails off a little uncertain on how she wants to continue.

But Mr. Stark for once is quiet and waits, damn the man for being in full science mode right now.

“Now me specifically, I’m, well Chiron says I’m unusually driven. I don’t want to call my siblings from long ago selfish per say, but they rarely saw past their individual goals. I don’t-didn’t have anyone when I dragged myself into camp. But then I did. So, where before the goal was ‘get enough food and survive,’ now it was 'these are my new people and they will have lives'...Do you see where I’m going with this?”

Mr. Stark is looking at her like he found the answer he was looking for.

“Yeah kid, I see it.” Then the moment is gone and he sniffs, looks off to the side, and tosses back his drink, “All very touchy feely. Don’t do it again, I think I’m getting hives from the power of friendship.”

“Compassion allergy? Gees, I’ve heard those are dangerous. I’ll be more aware. Anyway, I’ve chosen to stand at the front of my fellow demigods but as to what I’ll do if I succeed in integrating them openly with the world....” She trailed off.

“What no world peace? Save the rainforest? Cure cancer? End world hunger?” He refills his glass with a few fingers of what she thinks is whiskey.

“Old man,” he scoffs, offended at the address, “I am nowhere near arrogant enough to believe that I could ever fix those problems by myself. I chose a big enough mission thanks.”

“So you’ve admitted to arrogance.”

She ignores him, “I’d probably want to live in my lab and just keep making things to maybe make the world a little bit better. You know, but first I need to be able to use better tech without announcing my presence to the monster population on a whole. So if you could move your geriatric self upstairs so I can feed my brain?”

He snipes something back about insolent children at her before they head upstairs so she can eat and they continue to work on this joint project of theirs. This is the most fun she’s had since the mess that was the battle against Gaea. 

Apparently, Jarvis got some camera and sensory upgrades since the first time she was here because he has a broad spectrum analysis of her heat and energy signatures for her to work with and gods it is beautiful to look at. “That peak right there. That’s the one.” She isolated a wave signature from the rest of the noise.

“This one? It looks sort of like…” He paused and considered the data before continuing. “J, what’s that look like to you.” She’s lost right now which is a bit of a new feeling for her.

 _“Dr. Campeao’s energy signature is reminiscent of the mark two palladium core arc reactor.”_ A source of near unlimited clean energy is a facsimile of celestial energy...well then, who would have thought. Not a completely unreasonable development given how powerful the Olympians are, but if it gives more weight to her ‘magic is really organic science’ theory she’s not complaining about it.

“Well, I can promise you that my metabolism does not include depleting palladium. Besides, it couldn’t occur in an organic system without poisoning the organism. The reaction is contained in the arc reactor so no radiation problems or anything. I am not an isolated system. Biologically I’m a human that needs extra fuel.” She stops herself from glancing at the glow coming from Mr. Stark’s chest, she understands what it is to be stared at but she's even more curious about the mechanics of the arc reactor in his chest now.

“You know, I use it to power an electromagnet.” What?

Her question must have written on her face.

“When I was in Afghanistan,” oh Gods, he’s going to talk to her about it. She tries to keep the shock off of her face, “one of my weapons was launched at the convoy I was in. A bomb exploded a few yards away from me and the shrapnel went straight through my vest to my chest cavity and towards my heart.” Her breathing is carefully controlled right now as she waits. “Long story short they had a surgeon they kidnapped from his village but he couldn’t get all of the pieces.” He stops there. _Had._ Had a surgeon. Escapes are rarely non violent. She knows that.

“The electromagnet holds the shards in place then.” She doesn’t ask for more details and he nods stiffly. She has now solved the mystery of the arc reactor’s purpose outside of powering the suit. And wow. Her father wears his life as a glowing target in the middle of his chest and he’s just told her about it. After knowing her for a week? Why?

“Mr. Stark,” he looks back at her but she makes sure there is no pity to be seen, “You are very brave.” He looks dismissive but she wants him to know that she means this, “Dying is very easy. Quitting is very easy,” During that week in Tartarus she thought about it more than once but Percy and Annabeth had needed her, “But you got up and saved yourself from terrorists while revolutionizing nuclear physics, robotics, and probably a couple of other fields I’m not thinking about. And you were recovering from a major surgery at the same time?” Gods, she understands what her mother told her now. Brilliant and Indomitable. Her father is awesome and while he smiles and plays the press, he doesn’t seem to know that.

“Let’s not forget that when you came home you decided that you would track down and destroy all of the weapons that had been sold illegally to the terrorists in the first place and openly took responsibility for it and have been doing exactly what you promised.” She probably reeks of admiration but her father is looking surprisingly uncomfortable at her earnestness, so she pulls back. “Pretty badass hero origin story you’ve got there, Mr. Stark. Here I thought I was cool because I escaped the cult that stole me from my mother in infancy and raised me to be the new Alexander the Great.”

He looks at her sharply before letting the sarcasm out, “Impressive, for a twelve year old,” but it’s fleeting, “Did you go back for those cultists?” 

Oh, so they’re going there. It’s commiserate on shared pain day. She was just trying to give him some solidarity, not go into details.

She inhaled sharply through her teeth, “No, I ran hard from them and it was...it was a no go. When I dragged myself over the camp border and told Chiron who I was and how I got there…” She sighed, “They went to ground after they realized they weren’t going to catch me, I think. If the gods couldn’t find them before, well...I know they took it seriously too because a demigod was stolen from a goddess? That has never happened before or since. No one has found a trace of them.” With any luck they never will and the Cult of Alexander will stay gone.

He watches her for a minute before speaking, “Let me know if they turn up again, kiddo. I know you said you’re non lethal but backup is good.” Kiddo? Wow, there is a lot to unpack from all of that.

“Right. Same to you. I guess.” How did this become so dark and yet wholesome? “You know, provided that you can’t just fly in and blow it up or something.” Gods, she’s awkward. Why are they having this conversation?

She does get a bit of a smile though, “Right, back to this. The goal is to insulate the electronic device from this form of energy without sacrificing efficiency and processing power of said device. So if we…” He pulls up a blueprint of the arc reactor and she stiffens. Oh she wants. She wants to play with that. But that’s not why she’s here and that instinct is telling her she’s being challenged, tested.

“The casing that encapsulated the arc reactor could be simplified because it’s not like we give off that much energy. We’re like a lithium battery compared to that.”

Mr. Stark looks pleased, “And with that, the teens and kiddies get all the phones and laptops they want for christmas.”

“Mr. Stark, I can’t. This is your technology. The deal was that you help me develop a way to do this not, not risk your potentially weaponizable pacemaker designs.” This is so much more than she was expecting.

“Well then, I guess you’re just going to have to stick around,” What? “I can’t let a brain full of my tech loose upon the world when I can’t see what you’re going to do with it. And how are you going to develop anything with the sad home grown little lab you have on the East coast?”

Is this? Is he?

“Are you? Are you offering me a job?” This was meant to be a simple business contract...and a way to satisfy her curiosity but no one else needs to know that.

Mr. Stark leans back and crosses his arms across his chest, clearly challenging her. 

“You are! I-what would I even do? How could I-Well, obviously I’d be in R&D. But which team and focus? Oh gods, that would be so awesome. Would you let me keep working on my research, too? Well that could be risky at the company. Maybe…” Her mind descends into inarticulate half thoughts and plans as she sorts out the bomb that Mr. Stark just dropped on her. He’s trusting her a lot, with very important and potentially harmful information both on a personal and a very real scale. And as wonderful as this sounds to her...why?

“I was thinking more along the lines of overqualified shadow. I know what it is to be the genius kid on the block and not gonna lie it is useful to have someone who actually speaks English around when I’m working. You’d get access to all open projects pending review that catch your interest for troubleshooting that I can’t get to myself. You’d get to start your own projects in your own lab space that isn’t duct taped together,” Okay, ouch. 

“And not just R&D.” Huh? “What you are trying to do is a very long game and your people have been in hiding for a very long time. When you do come out of the shadows, people are going to be afraid,” She can agree with that, “If you are going to be a leader for this, then you need to be a public figure, a spotless one too. Because any failing of yours will be on them.” She knows that too. “You are going to need political contacts and society contacts and business contacts.” 

Gods, she knows this.

“Stick close, work for me and my company, and you will get access to those resources.” Oh, this is a manipulation. Her loyalty and her strength to protect his company in return for the chance at an open future for the other demigods. _Ambition, child of Nike._ _Mind your pride, mind your arrogance or they’ll ruin you like all the other so called heroes._

Is it hubris to believe she can do this if the opportunity is being offered to her?

She leans back and tries to think this problem through. She’s good at that.

Current goal: Finish the Safe for Baby Demigods tech. Easy, she’ll be done in a couple of weeks with this breakthrough and testing will be simple with access to Jarvis. Then it’s machine everything and get it shipped out to New York. But after that...after that the long term goal stalls. Because Mr. Stark is right.

Long term goal: Integrate demigods with society so hiding is no longer necessary. She does not have the world presence or resources to guarantee a safe entry for the demigods into the mainstream world. That could take decades to develop. And sure that gives time for this generation of demigods to grow up and get real careers but what about the ones who are stuck now. Limited by the jobs they can safely perform because of their education levels that are stagnated because of current technologies and stuck in dicey situations where it’s easy for them to get cornered by monsters and die unnoticed.

No. Enough of her people die young. She’s had her fill of funerals in the past few years between the invasion of Camp Half-Blood and the Battle of Manhattan. She’s had her fill of funerals in the last decade.

She wonders if Mr. Stark realizes that he just earned her unwavering loyalty with this offer. He’s using her too in this, of course. He gets a secret weapon for any future Obadiah Stanes, a resourceful, skilled, and proven scientist with very clear moral lines that won’t be crossed, and someone to take some of his work load. 

He also gets first access to this new generation of demigods that will, despite this being a contract with her, feel somewhat indebted to him and view SI as their first choice for employment. This tech is his too, he’ll be able to fill his offices and holdings with safe-for-demigods technology first.

Sure it will trickle down to other facets of society too but, by then he’ll have the majority of first generation higher educated demigods working for him. The trained and enhanced individuals with a sense of community and honor who just want to have choices and will no longer have to hide and suppress their abilities to remain alive. Partially thanks to him. Yeah. He may still have some issues from the Stane betrayal to work on.

In the end it’s an easy decision. She makes it in less than a minute. He’s the one that called it a long game and she's a child of victory. She doesn’t lose.

“When do I start?” She will not force everyone to wait decades because she got twitchy about working closely with her father. And really it will be up to the others if they want to take the easy route offered to them or find their own.

His grin is all teeth, “After dinner, I was thinking Thai.”


	8. The Job

Chiron is so smug when she tells him. There should be no way he saw this coming but he readily agrees to clean out her cabin and ship everything to her apartment. She cannot wait to have her bike back. Cars are great but she built that bike herself and she likes the freedom that comes with it. It’s being driven across the country, literally, so she’s not expecting it for two weeks at least. Possibly more.

The following week is filled with lawyers, Mr. Stark, and Ms. Potts as they draw up contracts, NDAs, talk payment (It is a large salary she is being given but with her qualifications and what she’ll be working on it would be an insult for them to pay her any less...whatever you say Ms. Potts. It’s got six zeroes. What does she do with that?), and lab space for her. But by the end of it she feels mostly prepared for this and by the time the prototype phone and laptop are in her possession she knows that this is the best decision she could have made for herself and the others.

Her things come in eventually and she moves it all into her apartment which is suddenly much smaller than it was before but at least she has her bike now. The next day when she turns up at SI with her clothes in a bag and her bike in her usual spot she feels that her routine has been fully established. Which of course is when the first surprise is sprung on her, when she enters her lab space Mr. Stark is standing at her desk looking over a jet engine hologram that she had been helping with the previous day. And by helping she means dismantling because it was ugly and an insult to jets everywhere.

“The team that was working on this was very proud of their work before you stomped on their dreams like a kid in a sandbox.”

What?

No, she didn’t!

“I was perfectly professional in telling them what was wrong and suggesting how to fix it.” She knows how to talk to normal people without insulting their slowness.

“Yeah, you were. But you also upended months of design and then redesigned it in what two hours?” 

She very much hopes he can feel the visible confusion on her face right now, “Wasn’t I supposed to help them with it? I mean it’s not perfect but I wanted to go sleep so I can finish it up now if you want.”

He turned around and shot her the most incredulous look she’s seen to date, “No, I think you’ve done more than enough work for them. Dial it back a bit. Find the errors, point them out, make the obvious corrections but don’t devote too much of your day to someone else’s project. Flip through the logged projects up for review but keep your eye on your own designs.”

“Don’t stomp in other people’s sandboxes...got it. I can do that.” Suggest don’t fix. That may be difficult, she doesn’t like to leave things unfinished. She pulls a face at the thought of it actually.

“Awww, don’t look so sad about it, kid.” He could at least pretend to be serious here, “I know it’s hard to tolerate sloppy work, most people are slow at this. Anyway, you’re done here today. Come on.” 

Thus begins the tradition or Mr. Stark dragging her along to any meetings that Ms. Potts manages to corner him into so she can see how the old folks do negotiating. Mr. Stark was not a fan of her phrasing but Pepper found it wonderful. She does not because she is made to suffer through things that do not hold her interest like marketing.

She was really beginning to like Pepper.

About two months in, Mr. Stark found her bike after having been MIA for a week. Now ordinarily she loves when peers and respected authority figures check her work over, but her bike is off limits and she’s annoyed at him for leaving her and Pepper to deal with clean energy people when the arc reactor is his. So, when she is leaving for the day on a Thursday evening around nine o’clock and finds him giving it more than a once over, well. She’s protective.

“Hey, maláka!” She’s also hungry and a bit sleep deprived because of him dropping off the face of earth and leaving her to deal with things that shouldn't be hers to deal with. Her fridge is thirty minutes away but she can make it because there is pizza in there. “Do you need something?”

“Don’t know what that means but tone suggests not nice. My feelings are very sensitive.” He continues his irreverent poking at her things and she can feel her thin patience wavering.

“My feelings are hangry and stabby because I’ve been picking up the work you didn’t want to do for the last week. What do you need Mr. Stark?” It’s night time, there can’t be more work for her right now, can there?

“Stabby?” He actually just stands there and questions it. She does like that he knows what she is and has zero fear of her, but she would settle for a bit of intimidation at this moment.

“Feeling a bit short fused? Primed for a fight? Potentially violent?” She was forced to deal with some real obtuse idiots today. She doesn’t know how they are working here, unlike her boss who is brilliant but doesn’t always show up. Or maybe they are the best but she is just that good. Doesn’t matter because she talked them around anyway and now they are back on track for their project (some better-than-fiber-optics cable with a boring name) and under budget too which is alway a nice surprise. 

“Perfect!” No, not perfect. She’s the opposite of perfect right now. Completely imperfect, “Come on, I need you for the suit.” The suit? The Iron Man suit? That’s not above her pay grade?

If she was more awake, she’s certain the enthusiasm would be taking over but as it is, “Now? Mr. Stark, I last ate some time around noon I think and don’t even ask me about sleep.” It’s in the thirty hours since her last nap range and it’s his fault. “Do you really want me touching your suit?”

“For this you’re fine. And Jarvis ordered pizza. It will be at the house by the time we get there.” Work for fresh pizza or schlump home for fridge pizza. Decisions...Dammit.

“Fine.” She really wants to get a closer look at the suit more than she wants to be petty. She grabs her helmet from her bag and slides onto her bike.

“You’re good to drive, right? Not going to fall asleep on the way?” And now he’s concerned.

She snorted, “Yeah, this is nothing. I’ll see you there.”

She peeled out of the parking lot and into the night.

Cas arrived at the mansion before her father did. Not surprising with the head start and all but Jarvis was kind enough to let her inside to wait...with the pizza which she will not be sharing.

“Gods, I love this house. Jarvis what do you prefer, this house or being at SI?”

“I do not have a preference, Dr. Campeao, although I have some new found interest in New York.” 

“Oh? Not looking for my homebase are you, J?” She says to the nearest camera.

“Not successfully, doctor.” She doesn’t know how capable Jarvis is of emoting but she sees a lot of her father in his character.

“Well, no harm done,” She says on her third slice of pizza before chasing down a bite with some coffee. “If you’re curious then you could alway ask me more about it. I don’t mind talking about home. Other than its exact location and defenses, of course. There are kids there. And you can just call me Cas, J.”

“That would hardly be professional, doctor.”

“I think we’re in the off hours, Jarvis.”

“With regards to NY, I was searching for activity such as what was present in the video you initially gave to Mr. Stark as evidence to support your existence.” 

She laughed, “Well, you wouldn’t. We aren’t given to casual displays of power or showing off when we’re not at home. It’s heavily ingrained in us how dangerous that is.” She quickly finished her third slice before grabbing a forth. Gods, it’s good for a California pie. It’s so hard to find here and there have been exactly zero good bagel places here but maybe her father and Jarvis know of a good one of those too...that’s for another time. 

“If you really want to try to find some demigods you should keep an eye out for necklaces like mine, or sometimes they’re bracelets.” She gestures to the string of beads around her neck. “Custom painted glass beads, we all have one and are hard pressed to remove or conceal them.”

“Thank you, doctor. I’ll adjust my search algorithm with those parameters.”

When Mr. Stark finally deigned to show up in his own home well after midnight, she’s had a lot of pizza and coffee will not keep her up any more after the previous all-nighter she pulled. Long story short she fell asleep at the kitchen island while talking to Jarvis who was kind enough to lower the lights for her.

Her father, the maláka, raises the lights and kicks her chair out from under her. Her twenty one years of demigod life have her immediately rolling to her feet and her spear, which had been sitting primly in her apartment, flashes to her hand. 

At least Mr. Stark looks intimidated now with his hands up staring down the point of her spear, hopefully the lesson sticks. Pepper’s don't.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. My bad. Friendly.” 

She blinks rapidly to clear the confusion, “What the hell, Mr. Stark? Do you want me to stab you?”

“Uh, no. I wanted to know why there’s a sleeping mini goddess in my kitchen eating me out of house and home.” What?

Maybe, he’s had a day too? What in Hades has he been doing for the past week? “Mr. Stark, you told me to come here because you wanted me to help on the suit. Jarvis let me in.” What is going on? She relaxes her stance and dismisses her spear with the hope of getting some clear communication.

There is no real change to his face but she can tell that he’s hiding something now. “Right, and then I changed my mind. Didn’t need you on this.” Okay…It’s his magnum opus so if he doesn’t want her touching Iron Man that's fine. Mr. Stark still could have sent her home hours ago.

“You couldn’t have Jarvis send me home?”

One noncommittal shrug later, “I figured you would have left by now.”

That...that’s a bit irritating but she concedes the point. Ordinarily, she would have left after being clearly forgotten about but she fell asleep talking to Jarvis. And Jarvis never woke her. 

“Hey J, what time is it?”

“The time is 4:17 AM, Dr. Campeao.” Dammit. 

At this point her exhaustion makes her sit back down. This sucks. It’s late/early. Dark. And she’s exhausted. Driving out by herself would be a very bad idea and not just for crashing. She would be easy pickings for monsters right now. She rubs her eyes and grimaces. Wonderful.

“Mr. Stark, can I use your couch for like two more hours until the sun comes up? I'll bounce right after and head home but I’d rather not die in a violent fiery crash alone on a backwoods California road.”

He just waves her away and wanders off with a, “Stay out of the lab.” Huh. Billionaires are eccentric. 

The couch becomes a frequent, if not regular place for her to catch a couple hours after that. He doesn’t forget her again, thank the gods, or maybe he does and Jarvis reminds him. But sometimes she stumbles there from the lab instead of towards the front door. They do a lot of science down there on projects he doesn’t plan on giving to SI (usually it relates to conquering the magic problem) and he does convince her to let him give her bike a once over eventually. He approves because she is perfect and cared for.

She does not, however, get to touch Iron Man. It doesn’t really surprise her given how important it clearly is for him but she would love to dig into how it works. Consolation prize is that Mr. Stark’s bots love her (in a way they are her tiny though technically older siblings) and it probably has something to do with her always giving them tiny tasks to do while she is working.

“DUM-E can you grab the soldering iron for me.” He brought a screwdriver. She thanked him and worked on something else instead.

“U, have you seen my...please don’t touch that.” Probably shouldn’t have left her spear out but she does her best thinking while flipping it.

She likes them but they can be a bit...eager.

Of course sometimes things come up for her, like an eager beaver of an empousa trying to jump her in a parking lot or Reyna and Frank calling her to New Rome.

“Mr. Stark? I’m going to be MIA for the next...I’m gonna call it five days.” She springs it on him when she’s in the car with him and Pepper. She pretends to be distracted on her phone but she can feel the looks she’s getting from him, Pepper, and is Happy watching her in the rearview?

“Oh? What’s so important, kid?” That’s suspicion. Huh. She’s not sure if it's for or against her but it isn’t like he never vanishes without a word so he should be grateful for the warning.

“I need to go up to Berkeley for a few days. Nothing shady, it’s just some Greek business.”

She feels so bad for Pepper, “Greek business? In Berkeley?”

“I mean technically it’s Roman. We’ve only just reestablished communications between New York and California so I need to handle this myself. It would be rude otherwise, since they’re Praetors. It makes sense for me to go, I’m already here and I’m the Greek Strategos.”

“Yeah, Maximus, we’re going to need to back up to the part where there are Romans in Berkeley.” 

“Maximus is Iberian not Greek, also no. I can speak for the Greeks not the Romans so be happy to learn that there are Romans in California. You should feel very safe.”

She doesn’t think that they do, but she’s not lying about it and while she could tell him because he’s her father...he doesn’t know that so he doesn’t need to know this.

Nope. And she most definitely doesn’t feel bad about leaving them out of the loop. Even if she wants to brag about the mock battle she took part in and won and the senate session she had to speak in representing Camp Half-Blood regarding a potential exchange program when she gets back.

She had the occasional Roman pass through her life after that but for the most part she remains firmly in the mortal world. Other than communication and calls solidifying relations between the camps, she’s left to her work for the benefit of all demigods. No pressure. She is so glad that everyone seems to have gotten past trying to kill each other thanks to Gaea. The Roman’s aren’t even fighting her plan provided that she doesn’t expose New Rome and leaves it for them to vote on.

The next two months pass much the same way. Sometimes Mr. Stark would vanish off to clear a cache of his weapons in some obscure and unsavory part of the world. Ms. Potts would always be especially tense during these times which Cas both did and did not understand. She vaguely worries about his safety but as of now? There is nothing that can shoot down his armor. 

Sometimes Mr. Stark would vanish off to nowhere with no warning at all. This, Cas found...it was a problem that she was trying to accept but her father is flaky. He leaves on these spontaneous trips, despite set plans and meetings and he may or may not turn up on TMZ or some other gossip thing and when he comes back typically he returns hungover. 

And sometimes it would be the two of them disappearing into Mr. Stark’s lab for days and Ms. Potts would come get them. 

She found those days to be the best. She knows she’s gotten attached to them despite the greater than occasional urge to punch and she knows that she’s reading the situation wrong on their end because she’s just a clever employee and a good investment. And apparently a great way for him to get out of work. But that doesn’t mean that getting scolded by Pepper for neglecting herself while hiding behind her father doesn’t feel like getting lectured by a mom.

As long as she keeps that to herself, well who cares.

But then of course, there is a break in routine.

It started with her being called to a conference room in one of the upper floors. It’s not scheduled which while uncommon has been done to her before like when Mr. Stark practically jumps into her lab, yells surprise, and tells her to present such and such project to these and those board members.

He calls them pop quizzes. He’s very proud. It usually happens while he’s wearing sunglasses and double fisting coffee so she assumes he’s hungover or lazy and faking it.

This time when she arrives it’s just Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark in the conference room and while it’s unusual it isn’t alarming. What is alarming is the screen with the flashy display reading STARK EXPO. She is in the loop and she knows that it’s opening in Flushing soon for the first time in about thirty years she thinks. 

She had also been hoping that she wouldn’t be dragged into it because that’s a whole lot of pageantry. 

The look on Ms. Potts's face tells her she is in fact being dragged into this pageantry.

“Hey, kid. Remember when you developed new hardware for phones, tablets, and laptops. Well as it turns out yours are actually faster and better than everyone else’s.” Oh, no. 

“Mr. Stark, that’s at least sixty percent you.”

“Debatable. Anyway, they’re yours. I made sure to put your name on the patents.” He did what now? Without talking to her about it? “Don’t get upset. These are for you and the other mini gods, mostly, so it stays yours even if we’re producing it here with my name on it for everyone. I gave it to marketing and they are running with it, gleefully. But you,” He put unnecessary emphasis on that, “get to present it at the Stark Expo next week as an up and coming engineer in the company.” Read: show off how smart you are to the public and make it clear that you are attached to my name. “So, Happy Birthday, from the world’s greatest boss, mentor, and teacher.”

“My birthday is in June.” Well, in for a penny, and let’s be honest he won’t do it and she’s too proud to let some marketing stooge present her work,“Ms. Potts, this is so far out of your job description, but can you be the fairy godmother to my Cinderella so I don’t embarrass myself there?”

Ms. Potts’s answering smile is surprisingly gentle, “Sure, Dr. Campeao. We’ll grab lunch and go.” Full day with Pepper? Score.

“Hey, you can’t steal my assistant.” Watch me. “And I need lunch, too.” Is he actually pouting right now? Dramatic pouting and sad Bambi eyes? Too bad, she’s been running herself ragged.

“Mr. Stark, this is going to take the rest of the day and you have a very important meeting with the defense contractor regarding the IED disposal unit at one o’clock.” Hey! She worked on that one a month ago and it should have been finished a week and a half ago.

“Cancel it.”

“I already did. Twice.” Ouch. He will not be able to get out of that. “And I still need you to make a decision on the wind farm people.” 

The shots being fired by Pepper are very nearly bringing a smile to Cas’s face but what brings out her laughter is her father’s scandalized face like he’s horrified that he has to work today but they’re leaving.

It’s all his fault anyway, he shouldn’t foist so much off on her and Pepper. “Goodbye, Mr. Stark!”

“Yeah, whatever kid. I’ll see you in NY.” Back to New York, she’ll have to let everyone know that she’ll be there.

Pepper takes her to town that afternoon. It becomes a weird combination of friend and mom bonding that she hopes the older woman does not pick up on. For Cas, this is girl time that she didn’t know she needed but now that she’s had it she very much hopes she gets to do it again.


	9. The Escape

Cassandra is not spoiled. At least, she wasn’t until she inserted herself into her father’s life all incognito as an ordinary if smart demigod. She is not used to luxury. She probably never will be and she is glad of that because she knows how easily things can go up in smoke. 

That being said, when she asked Pepper about if she should pay for her plane ticket or if she should charge it to the company she was completely surprised when the woman laughed at her. Instead Pepper told her to watch her inbox but would give no reason why.

She lets it go and instead shifts to her presentation and the dramatic spectacle the marketing team has sent her. Cas is very glad that she wasn’t drinking anything and was only holding her coffee when the file opened because he named it. The malaka named their invention and he isn’t even here for her to punch over it.

Mr. Start must have planned that. The man plans everything and no one else seems to realize that. It is endlessly frustrating.

Staring at her in the face is the image of the new Stark Phone, Tablet, and Laptop. (Mr. Stark says the laptops are for the common folk; they'll be using holograms and text-to-speech in all of his offices soon.) Brand new designs all way ahead of their time and they run on a Pegasus Processor. 

It’s great. It’s snappy. It has alliteration and implies flight so it’s fast. It’s also greek. Because of course it is.

She wants to hit him, but as protege by choice she dutifully absorbs all of the details from the marketing team about what points they want her to capitalize on and what questions she is likely to be asked.

She is over halfway finished when an email comes in with a date, location, and flight time for two days from now. She shrugs before continuing and figures that someone just took care of it for her.

Either way she forwards the information to Chiron. (She spent a long time and far too many drachme on an iris message so the first systems could be set up at camp.) This is the longest she has been away from camp ever and though she feels very fulfilled living where she is...she misses her family.

Two days later she is ready to kill her father and Happy is _laughing_ at her because he’s flying with her. And this isn’t funny. When Happy told her that he was driving her to the airport she thought it was a kind gesture. Unnecessary but kind, so she didn’t put up a fuss. She was outside her apartment complex with her bags ready to leave immediately when he arrived. Pepper told her what to bring and wear but she brought things for when she escapes to see her family. 

They texted and used their phones to prepare and nothing bad happened. Such a simple idea but it still makes her infuriatingly happy every time she does it. 

Whatever.

She’s distracting herself from the problem.

And the problem is that she is expected to fly in Tony Stark’s private jet. The man just loaned it and a pilot out to her without telling her like this is a normal thing. And Happy is still laughing at her.

“Why is this funny?” This had better be good. Honestly.

“You are probably the first person that Tony has ever offered something to without strings attached and you said no. Of course, he isn’t going to give you the chance to turn down the jet that he knows everything about and let you fly commercial.” What is wrong with commercial?

She grabs her bags in a huff and walks up the stairs in the heels Ms. Potts picked out for her.

She doesn’t even wobble and she most certainly does not stomp no matter what Happy says.

When she sits down Happy decides to level with her, “Look kid, you’ve had a rough go at life,” She’s aware, “And you work really hard. Take the compliment.” What compliment? That she can’t cross the country safely without a babysitter and a private jet?

“I would've been just as fine on JetBlue.”

“You would’ve, but why bother? You get elbow room and space to work on whatever you want on the way.” She’s being herded like a farm animal. She doesn’t like the process and while she enjoys the result, she has no desire to get used to this. Dammit, Mr. Stark. First the Expo and now this?

“I have five days until I present, right?” Gods, if he changed the day too she will not be happy.

“Right,” Oh, this is perfect.

“Then I am taking care of Greek business for the next four.” Her tone makes it clear that he can fight her on this but she is not backing down.

“Sure,” At least Happy can be reasonable, “Just be there on time when Tony needs you.” 

Obviously.

This is a big moment for her.

She’s still kind of rankled about this whole thing...she knows that she’s promised to only use her powers for good and it isn’t really Happy’s fault that she’s pissed but... She uses her tablet to slip into the onboard systems and track their flight plan to the landing strip and then sends it to a couple of her boys so they can pick her up.

The campers are laughing at her predicament if the messages popping up on her phone are anything to go by, traitors. She hates being blindsided like this.

She deserves to run off to camp for a reprieve from the mortal toil. 

Hours later and at the moment the jet touches down on the tarmac she gets a feeling. It’s not a danger feeling. Oh no. It’s the my-evil-plan-is-working feeling that she gets when on the verge of a successful prank. Guess she really is going to pull a fast one on Happy.

Of course the man has no idea.

Her things are packed up neatly. She put her shoes back on. They’ve had some idle chit chat during the flight but it died out and he left her to her own devices. All in all she’s been very well behaved.

As the jet slows to a stop and the ladder descends she is out the door faster than any mortal could hope to manage and there, there it is.

That beautiful, ugly, strawberry delivery van.

She reaches the bottom stair when Happy realizes something weird has occurred.

“Hey, who-”

“Cassie!”

“Travis!” Gods, did this imp boy get even taller?

She can’t quite run as she has a backpack and a duffle on her, also she’s in heels. 

She can move faster in them than most any other woman because she has balance, but that doesn’t stop the wobbly little things from snapping if she tries to run. She tested it.

Cas does however get an armful of Travis Stoll, Child of Hermes, one half of her favorite little mischief team. Of course, they came for her. 

“You look great!”

“Gods, I missed you!”

“Who else is here?”

“It’s just me and Connor, we stole it.”

“Who is stealing what now?” Poor, poor Happy.

“We’re here to reappropriate Cassandra. You mortals out in California have had her for months. She’s due back with us for a bit.” Oh, Travis. She has missed him, a lot.

She manages to wiggle around to face Happy and Travis contentedly seats his chin on her shoulder.

“Happy this is Travis. He’s a friend of mine from camp. They borrowed the van from Chiron to come and pick me up for a few days.”

“How did...” Uh-oh. “How did they even know where we were landing?”

“I told them.” What’s the problem now?

“You told them,” Yep. “And how did…” He looks at her like he’s just had an epiphany. He runs his hand over his face and walks back to the plane, “See you in a few days, Cas.” 

“Okay, bye Happy!” She lets herself be led back to the van laughing the whole way before she trades Travis for Connor for a complete set of Stoll brother hugs. 

Prior to the Titanomachy and Percy snubbing godhood for all their sakes, her bunk was pretty close to where Travis and Connor ended up when they arrived. They were so scrawny that she spent a lot of her free time teaching them some handy evasion skills that she had been taught during her formative years. As they grew, evasions turned into incursions and some of the most creative pranks and underhanded blackmarket ideas she’s yet seen. 

She also helped them set up a minor gambling ring at camp. They almost die a lot so throwing around drachme during tournaments, matches, and other camp games is hardly worth noting.

They made so much money over the years though. Chiron pretends not to notice.

The drive to camp is full of laughter.

Her arrival at camp is full of hugs and cheers. And it’s beautiful because they are thanking her.

The ones that already have phones (they give them out as they come in by lottery) and families get to call home. Some are telling her that they have applied to school when before they weren’t and she is crying.

She cries all the way to the pavilion where they take her stuff from her to be tossed in her cabin and then she laughs all the way to the pier where they throw her in the water for being a cry baby. (She managed to leave her phone with her bags.)

After she drags herself out of the canoe lake she runs barefoot to her cabin and changes into jeans and a super comfy Camp Half-Blood shirt with a jacket tossed over it. She doesn’t need it but it’s cozy. She grabs her phone because at this point in her life she can have one with her all of the time and it’s a gift.

Dinner is so blissfully normal that when she offers half her food and says a prayer to her mother all she has to say is thank you, thank you that everything is going so well so far.

After she eats she bounces around the pavilion talking to everyone and it’s like she never left.

“I got accepted to the University of Arizona and I’m going to study political science in the fall. I want to help you once this gets bigger.” And then Clarisse has her nearly in tears again. She hugs the normally harsh young woman. 

“You are amazing, Clar. Even if you change your mind and your major, you are amazing.”

She notes that there are quite a few new faces around camp and many are younger than she is used to seeing come in.

When she asks Chiron about it, “It’s very easy for the parent to contact us now if there is an issue. We’ve sent out a few retrieval teams but mostly we just convince the parent to drive their demigod here. For the more stable homes it's much easier now that the goodbyes don’t come across as so permanent.”

Cas chooses not to think about the more common unstable homes and the young demigods they don’t have a way of finding yet unless the gods tell them where to look.

She had been concerned about internet connection and electric outlets to charge everyone’s new devices but Athena’s cabin, Hephaestus’s cabin, and Hecate’s cabin all put something together to bring the signal in and retrofit some wires to the rest of the cabins not just the big house. The whole set up is of questionable legality. It’s amazing what a group of determined demigods can accomplish.

Welcome to the modern era, Camp Half-Blood. The world cannot wait to meet you.

The time difference is a bit of a pain but she goes to bed at lights out and doesn’t touch work at all. 

~~~

The next morning she rolls out of bed and grins. It smells like home and it’s so nice to be here. She quickly cleans up and changes. It’s still early so the teenagers are probably still in bed but she grabs her phone and tablet quickly before heading to the pavilion.

She wants first dibs on breakfast and she gets it.

Immediately after though she takes full advantage of the sleepy camp and claims the gymnasium for herself. She sets her tablet up to record so she can roll back through the footage later and prepares to ignore the world for the next several hours.

The gymnastics routine she warms up with is sharper than the one she’s been able to do in the available gym spaces she has in California. It’s more aggressive than it is pretty because it is made for dodging and strategic placement on the battlefield. Maybe now that the fighting is over she should try to do some softer prettier routines but she really isn’t interested. 

All she is interested in right now is the pounding of the compact dirt on her hands and feet, the familiar jaring and rattling. Chiron had to explain to her when she was younger that mortals can’t do this, it would break their bones and eventually ruin their joints. She was new to camp and really didn’t understand what a mortal was other than their apparent squishiness.

She felt bad that they couldn’t throw themselves around like this. She still feels bad about that because this is liberating. Cassandra cannot fly like her parents but this and her spear are as close as she gets.

The floor routine she has draws to a close sooner than she was expecting but she adjusts her tablets and segways over to the uneven bars. It’s time to fly.

Halfway through her routine she notices that she has picked up an audience. She recognizes most of them from around camp but she sees a few new faces. A little flare is necessary for the dismount then.

On the higher bar she launches herself vertically in a corkscrew before coming back down and inverting rotation so she is facing towards the lower bar. After building some more momentum she launches herself up, over, and past the lower bar, executes a backflip, and sticks the landing.

She loves geometry brain. Geometry brain allows for so much magic. Not _magic._ But something awesome to look at.

Cassandra offers a bow to her audience before addressing them.

“Morning guys, I’m just going to do a run through with my spear and then all the space is yours. That good?”

“Take your time, we wanna watch! It’s been a while!” Is that Piper?

“Piper, if I didn’t know you I’d be so creeped out right now. Like running for New Jersey levels of scared.”

“You love me.” She does. She does love that chaotic little child of Aphrodite. 

“I do, which is why I don’t get why you’re dating, Sparky. You know I can treat you better.” She can’t but that’s beside the point.

“Malaka, you can’t afford being with me.”

She fake gasps, “Piper, the children.”

“Have heard way worse from the other councilors.”

Ha.

It’s true.

She’s contributed quite a bit.

“Hurry up. When you’re done, I need to glomp you.”

“As you wish, Princess.”

She doesn’t spend much time on her spear. There are more important things, like glomping the stuffing out of Piper. As far as length of friendship is concerned, she hasn’t had Piper in her life for very long (just the last few months) but they saved the world together and Piper helped her make the video for Mr. Stark.

Also being an actor’s daughter, she was able to somewhat relate to Cas with regards to skimming gossip and news stations for information about a parent. It’s not the same but it’s a lot when you are looking for people to connect with, they clicked when Piper proved gifted in fluster worthy banter. It’s meaningless but it is so fun.

After quickly closing up shop she and Piper tackle each other to the ground laughing the whole time. 

Though Piper came into her demigod status late she is made for it. Especially with how quickly she became councilor for Aphrodite’s cabin. She’s fierce and Cas respects fierce. 

“So, how is Malibu?” They’ve migrated over to the canoe lake and are just being. Cas is zipping through the footage on her tablet and Piper is just catching rays.

“Malibu is amazing. Malibu is work. And Malibu...I think it’s my whole future out there Pipes.” She’s been thinking about this a lot.

“Oh, yeah?” She seems excited.

“Yeah, I thought that I would be out there for a few months, maybe a year maximum but the whole deal, the job, everything... Even if I never tell my father, I think my future is in that company. Or at least connected to it.”

“I’m happy for you, Cas. I hope that, even more than us, you get a brilliant victory out of this.”

That.

That’s just.

Moving on.

“Yeah, well I’m dragging you all along with me, deal with it. What about you? What are your plans?”

“I am going to go to school in New York. I have no desire to act,” Not surprising given her father, “And I can’t do anything political in line with the new trend due to my charmspeaking. When it comes out the mortals would freak if I was in any kind of public office position.” She grimaces but doesn’t argue because it’s true and if Piper had tried to she would have told her to stop. 

“However, there is another angle I can attack this from. One I bet you didn’t think about all that much.” Oh, she’s interested now. “My fearless Strategos, how do you feel about journalists?”

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, she’s good. She’s brilliant. She does love Piper.

“Based off of that smile, I’m betting that I am brilliant.”

“That is genius, Piper. And you would be so good at it too, you always have the best questions.” She is great at following through on chains of thought and she’s so calm yet harsh. And she can literally talk almost anyone into a corner even without the charmspeak.

She flips her hair over her shoulder, “I know, it’s a lifetime of practice.”

“That...wow that is going to help so much with trying to cut some media bias.” Piper is amazing, “Well, when you need interviews let me know. I’m pretty high up on the SI payroll.”

“Think you can get me an interview with the big man himself.”

Ha. “Nope, that man does what he wants. I feel bad for Ms. Potts, his assistant. It’s like she’s trying to herd a cat.”

“Gees, I wonder what that is like.”

Is that an attack on her person? She looks up from her tablet at Piper, “You got something to say there, Pipes?”

“Not at all, Ms. I’m-here-on-a-business-trip-but-let-me-escape-at-the-airport.”

“Well, now you’re just being mean. It’s Doctor not Miss. And I thought you wanted to see me. Boo on you.”

They remain serious for a whole minute before collapsing into laughter. It’s a beautiful afternoon.


	10. The Beginning

The next two days are just R&R, so very different from R&D which has taken over her life. However, it is on day three where the mortal world reappears on her radar. It starts with a phone call. 

“Little miss missing mini god, where did you run off to?” She guesses that she’s been MIA for too long if Mr. Stark is looking for her. Pepper hasn’t even tried to contact her, so she can’t really be in trouble.

“Did you practice that?” 

“I’ve been saving it. Now come on, cough up your location.”

“Did Happy tattle on me? Because I promised I would be there on time.” He doesn’t strike her as a snitch.

“No, I expected you to be running interference for me at the Expo before I open it tonight.”

“Hard to follow a plan I’m not filled in on.” Oh, she’s still bitter about that.

“Not the point, where are you?” Does he really not know? She looks around at all of the kids wandering around the camp towards activities she has vastly outgrown. 

“Where's the phone say I am?” She is genuinely curious.

“Can’t get a lock. Probably somewhere in Long Island.” Wow.

She had wondered if Mr. Stark would be able to track the phone locations back to Camp Half-Blood but it seems that the old defenses prevail again. She is untraceable to Iron Man here, which means by her professional opinion no one outside of their world of gods and monsters will ever be able to find them.

“You’re actually correct then.” Doesn’t hurt to congratulate. “It’s closer than I thought you would be able to get but still general enough that I don’t feel uncomfortable.”

“You’re with the demigods aren’t you.”

“Where else would I be?”

“I don’t know it’s New York, you could be anywhere.”

“Not really, I’m not exactly hard to find anymore.” Mr. Stark can literally find her almost anywhere else in the world, except for Long Island. As far as hiding places go it’s fairly legit. “Anyway, do you actually need me in Flushing tonight? Because I can be there.”

“Good, do it. Actually, give Happy an address and time he can pick you up from. He’s very put out that you ditched him.”

“Yes, well, I didn’t need a sitter.”

“Happy is not a sitter, he’s a trained bodyguard.” Sorry, what was that?

She tries not to be insulted and gives the man a chance, “Are you suggesting that I need a bodyguard?” She can wreck any mortal that comes near her, nonlethally of course. A bodyguard? Really?

“Consider it practice. Famous people have bodyguards.” That feels like a simplification but she lets it go.

“I’m not famous, so I don’t need to have a bodyguard even for appearances.”

“Remember when I said you are going to be a public figure? That’s what that means, kid.” Ugh, Mr. Stark… “Take Happy with you. Get used to the idea before there are crowd issues. I know what I’m talking about. I've been doing this for a long time.”

Ugh.

“Whatever you say, old man.” Maybe she can make him feel bad for giving her a hard time, “One of my friends got into the University of Arizona. She plans on dorming now. Wanted me to thank you on her behalf for making it possible.”

“See you later, kid.” And then he hangs up on her.

Ha.

Great.

This is going to be a long day.

She texts Happy to pick her up in Riverhead before wrangling Argus into driving her there. It’s not too far from Montauk so he doesn’t really put up anything more than a token fight.

Cas once again packs up her bags and takes them to the Big House. She hasn’t seen Mr. D around and wonders if he is even at camp right now, either way, it wouldn’t do for her to leave without acknowledging him...even if he can’t stand demigods.

There he is as always in all of his leopard printed glory playing pinochle with some satyrs as the rest of the camp speeds on by him.

It’s a familiar sight, one that used to anger her because it felt like he never helped even when it got so hard. Now though, it feels very familiar in the good way.

She knows better than to rush him and instead waits behind a satyr for him to address her.

“Christine Campbell,” That was actually pretty close, “You have been very busy.” 

Is that a compliment? 

“Thanks, Mr. D.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Many of the gods are betting on this blowing up in your face and no one has any clue of the odds because your mother won’t tell us.” He sags dramatically in his chair, “Honestly, I think the whole thing will end tragically but nobody wants to hear it.”

She ignores the lance of fear through her heart, “Well, the ending can still be satisfying even if it is tragic.”

“Hmph, why are you here, Kirsten?”

“I wanted to say so long. I doubt I’ll be back anytime soon after this.” She may not come back at all.

“Good, get out of my camp.” She smiles. He does care.

She tries to make a subtle exit from camp and sneak on over to Argus but someone must have seen her carrying her bags so instead she gets a crowd of well wishers. She explains that she’ll be in the area for two more days or so with the Expo in Flushing. There aren’t too many technophiles at camp yet outside of Athena’s and Hephaestus’s cabins but she expects to catch a demigod or two wandering around there if they can get in.

Which can happen easily, demigods are notorious for getting into places they really shouldn’t be.

Cas spends the silent car ride with Argus trying to get her mind back into work mode. For good measure, she reviews the event details so that the Expo staff doesn’t have a fit when she shows up out of nowhere.

When they find Happy, she plays musical cars and transfers her stuff over. Argus isn’t sentimental towards her so he waves and leaves. She’s grateful. The giant is a kind being but even after all of this time the eyes still make her feel twitchy.

Happy is...well Happy is most certainly not happy with her right now and she’s having a hard time understanding why. That little prank on the airport was hardly enough to bother him for this long. No one was even hurt. Usually, if someone is mad at her there is yelling involved, insults, the occasional sword (Clarisse), but there’s not sullen silences with people hunched over the wheel of a car.

The drive is almost halfway over and they have not spoken and normally this would be fine but this feels different to Cas.

“Hey Happy, how’s your week been?” 

“Good.” Right.

“Glad to hear it. What do you think of the Expo set up so far? How’s it looking?”

“Fine, which you would know if you had been there.” Okay…

“I’m sensing some hostility here. Help me out because I got nothing.”

“Seriously…”

“That’s what I’m saying. Why are you upset?”

“You seriously don’t know why I’m upset?”

“Why else would I be asking?” Can she get a straight answer? She is trying to understand.

“You don’t think that maybe I’m a little upset that the person I’m supposed to be looking after ran off at the airport in a van?” Well, that is an incredibly oversimplified version of events.

“One, you’re Mr. Stark’s bodyguard, not mine. I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. Two, the words ‘airport’ and ‘van’ used together in such a way sound so creepy. Don’t do it. Three, those boys are like my kid brothers and I trust them with my life. I was perfectly safe.”

The man behind the wheel just heaved a deep breath before moderating his tone.

“It would have been good to have a warning before they rolled onto the tarmac.” And ruin the surprise?

“It sucks when people don’t tell you the plans, doesn’t it?” 

“Is that what this was about? Some childish rebellion thing?” 

A rebellion thing? Seriously?

“I am a twenty one year old woman that has survived things that I will never tell you about not because it’s private but because you don’t need to know what exists out there. I am not a child and I will not be herded and paraded around like one. Include me in your reasonable plans and I will probably say yes. Exclude me and I'll make my own.” Dammit. She is breathing heavily now.

It occurs to her that she has leaned forward while yelling so she collapses back and pinches the space between her eyes to calm down.

“Look, kid, I won’t pretend to get your whole magic secret world thing. Tony overstepped with the Expo and the jet clearly but tell him that don’t take it out on me. I thought I’d lost my boss's apprentice or something.”

Apprentice? Is that what she is? 

“I can’t. Mr. Stark has done so much for me that he really didn’t have to, like at all. If he wants to have some fun at my expense I really shouldn’t complain.” 

“Mr. Stark is an ass and sometimes he needs people to tell him so. His head doesn’t need to get any bigger.”

She laughs at that, “Malaka, Happy.”

“What?”

“It’s like saying asshole.”

He laughs, “I like it. Mr. Stark is a malaka.” The pronunciation needs work but not too bad, “So, how are the other demigods doing?” 

She should resist. She really should.

“It’s terrible, Happy.”

“Wait, what?”

“Absolutely horrible. You see, they’ve discovered Facebook.”

“That’s terrible.”

She smiles at him in the rearview mirror, “They are so excited and hopeful, Happy. I’m really glad I went to California.”

“I am too, kid.”

The rest of the drive is relaxing and Cas returns to her work.

When they arrive, Happy drives her right into the venue. She’s never been to her grandfather’s City of the Future, it never really came up despite how close to home it is for her. Now that she is here though she’s trying now to gape at the stalls and decorations that are going up.

“Cassie, Mr. Stark isn’t due to open the Expo until 8:30 PM and it's three now. He wants you to hold down the fort for him until then. That’s five and half hours. Report back to Pepper with anything you don’t think you can handle. I’ll be dropping you off with the event head and then I’ll take your bags to the hotel.”

What?

“You’re leaving me to the wolves?”

“I thought you could take care of yourself.”

“And I can but you want me to spend time with normal mortal people. Worse, it’s normal mortal marketing and PR people.” She thinks it over, “Wait is this a punishment? Am I actually being reprimanded right now?”

“What do you think?”

An hour later and she knows she was right. That does not mean she regrets her decision to run off and rejoin demigod culture for a few days. Cas does have to grit her teeth as she is manhandled into a makeup chair because what she put on this morning is smudged.

“I swear, if you put too much of that on me I am jumping in a fountain.” She will, she doesn’t care, “Your work will be wasted.” The woman huffs something about being a professional but Cas notices she does put some tubes and cases away. Thank the gods.

The lady on her hair though, clearly a trained torturer. She’s not even going on stage today so she doesn’t understand why this is happening. She tells them this and all she gets is laughter and explanations about pictures, representing, and how she might be seen with Mr. Stark. 

Why this matters, she doesn’t know. However, when she is released she is in no mood to deal with idiots. While she has never planned an event like the Stark Expo before she did hold a command during the Titanomachy and she can make sure everything is where it is supposed to be and working. 

Four and a half hours later after a hurried meal, a fireworks scare (children all of them), and an issue with the sound system of the whole park, she’s got everything on lockdown so she hunts down Happy. 

Happy, who is chilling backstage in the main theater, is an evil man. 

She tells him so. He laughs, it's all a great time. Then he points to the screen and tells her Mr. Stark’s opening will be playing through there.

To her, it’s kind of sad. She went twenty one years without seeing the man in person and now she goes five days without seeing him and she misses him. Gods, it’s embarrassing.

That being said, she is subtle when she moves closer because she doesn’t want Happy to catch on to how excited she is to see her father again. She is totally sly even as the fireworks are going off and the girls start dancing in the background. Gods, her father is a drama queen but this isn’t really in line with how she knows him when they are working.

“It’s the Press Self, Cassie.” Huh. Happy must see the question on her face, “It’s what people expect to see from Tony Stark and he gives it to them because they love it.”

She wrinkles her nose in response, “I get it. Totally, I do, but it sounds exhausting.” She shudders, “Literally shove me off of a cliff if I end up like that, Happy.”

“I understand you’re sticking to the clean nose humanitarian route.”

“Yeah, sounds boring, throw in extreme sports enthusiast and we’re good.”

Happy is about to reply until her father lands on the stage to the roaring of the crowd like a conquering hero. In a way he is with his crusade against the Ten Rings slowing down and the last vestiges of his weapons legacy pittering out. 

His speech is interesting...and she respesses a grimace because, _“from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history.”_ Really.

She tries not to be insulted at the blatantly greek reference.

“Hey,” That’s Happy, “Are phoenixes real?”

“Yes, Happy. They don’t like people.” They don’t like people because their feathers have been used in creepy magic since the dawn of civilization but hey it sounds good in metaphor.

His talk about legacy though, that does something in her head. Is she a part of her father’s legacy? She’s definitely a part of her mother’s, will be for a long time as the first minor demigod to hold such influence.

But on her father’s side, can she lay claim to that position? He told her once after a lab binge that he didn’t want his legacy to be things that blow up but he destroys things as Iron Man all the time. His investment in her and her goals could be a testament to that or it could be a long term business investment in the security of his company. Gods know the man has a mind as strategic as hers with more than twice the experience especially in this arena.

The Stark Expo could be a legacy, or it could be him boasting his influence by providing a shot to all of the scientists here for the next year.

Really though, her father, the lauded Futurist, knows where his legacy as Iron Man is going right now and as long as he blows up terrorists across the ocean the mob loves him. No... they love his Press Self, is that his legacy?

Her thinking is interrupted by Happy returning with her father. And Mr. Stark looks like shit.

“Hey Old Man, with all that talk about legacy, you’re not planning on ghosting on us anytime soon are you?” She’s concerned.

He jolts and she has a moment to feel more concern before, “Kid, you are stuck with me until your dying day. It’s your own fault really if you’re starting to have regrets.”

“No regrets, just token concern for my oldie boss.”

“It’s nothing. Just tired from the flight, busy week. Hey kid, when we go out there stick close in the crowd. Try to smile at least a bit.”

Huh?

What crowd?

Oh gods. That crowd. “Can I abort? I think I saw a window over there large enough to leap from.” On the other side of the door is an absurd amount of very excited people and they're all screaming.

“Nu-uh, Happy keep mini god in sight this time.”

“I’m not going to run.” The window is to slip around the crowd not vanish all together. 

“‘Course not. Walk tall and form up. Baby’s first photo op.”

It is insanity but she pastes a confident look on her face because she is supposed to be there. In another life she always would have been there next to her father playing the press like a fiddle. People are shouting and trying to grab at Mr. Stark but they do not slow down. 

The camera flashes are kind of blinding but she’s used to fighting in poor conditions so she can walk in this. She’s grateful for her superior strength when someone grabs her arm before Happy can run interference because she continues walking to break their weak hold without slowing.

It’s not even a long walk but she is on edge by the time they make it out the door.

Does she really need to get used to this?

A glance at Mr. Stark tells her that she will indeed need to grow used to cameras and crowds. Maybe having someone like Happy around isn’t such a bad idea. She nearly laughs at the image in her head of her hiring a child of Ares to be her personal linebacker but she files it away for Future Cassandra to take care of.

The car they walk towards is not the one Happy had yesterday, no that was some town car of nonsignificance. This is a 2011 Audi R8 convertible and there is some ginger leaning on the car like she owns it. Cas rolls her eyes because of course some fan made it through, then she takes a closer look because this does not look like one of the rabid women trying to jump her father.

“Is this a new car?” Delay approach while gathering information. It’s not a monster. Or at least Cas is fairly certain that she’s not a monster. How would one even know she was coming out this way?

“Yeah, it's the latest model.” Happy sounds proud and it isn’t even his car.

“Hey,” Mr. Stark has spotted the ginger, “does she come with the car?”

“That’s slavery and that’s illegal, Mr. Phoenix.” She is ignored by the menfolk.

“I certainly hope so. Hi.” Dammit Happy. Well, if they're distracted.

“Can I drive?” Might as well throw her hat in the ring because this is a nice car.

“Nope, I’m on the wheel. You get in back.” Defeated but not broken, she walks around the car to get in back as far from Ginger lady as possible. “Hi. And you are?”

“Marshal.” She sounds like she's being coy but she certainly doesn't look like it.

“Irish. I like it.” Mr. Stark, please no. He doesn’t know it but she does not need to see her father flirting. She knows, she knows he’s popular with women. It doesn’t bother her, but she doesn’t need to see it.

It’s petty but she throws a grossed out face at Happy as she jumps into the back seat.

“Pleased to meet you, Tony.” First of all, overly familiar please back up, Marshal. And second of all, that’s flirting but not...flirting…

“Where’re you from?”

“Bedford.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.” Nope. No. Abort, Mr. Stark. 

She mutters, “Stalker alert.” Probably louder than she should but if it is a fan with a scrap of dignity maybe she’ll run off. Happy thinks she’s funny if the huff of laughter is anything to go by, but she can’t see Mr. Stark’s face from here.

“Yeah? You found me. What are you up to later?”

“Serving subpoenas.” What?

“Yikes.” Marshal from Bedford is actually a Marshal, a worthy Act II plot twist.

Mr. Stark cringes away from the paper, so Happy grabs it instead, “He doesn’t like to be handed things.” 

“Yeah, I have a peeve.” That's a bit of an understatement. It took months for him to take something from her directly and when he did she actually smiled about it. 

“I got it. You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 am.” Awww.

“Old man, you’re going to miss my stage time.” She was kind of looking forward to it and happy for the moral support. Just a bit, it's not terrifying but she’s nervous.

“Sorry kid, I’ll make it up to you.” Yeah, right. He refocuses on the Marshal, “Can I see the badge?”

“You wanna see the badge.”

“He likes the badge.” Gross Happy.

She doesn’t hesitate and look at that, a U.S. Marshal's badge, “You still like it.”

“Yep,” And then the Marshal is dismissed, “How far are we from D.C.?”

“D.C.? 250 miles.”

Mr. Stark launches the beast of a car and it looks like he is driving them towards the hotel she was supposed to be staying at before her detour.

“As far as making it up to me goes...can I keep this car?” She likes the car.

He barks out a laugh, “Not happening, kid. You’re terrifying enough on that bike of yours.”

“Please, I’m perfectly fine. Brilliant actually.”

“For real though, I’m sorry that Uncle Sam is stealing me away from your first global project presentation.”

“When you put it like that it is so hard to stay upset. I suppose I forgive you for this slight against me provided that you don’t spring a private jet trip on me like that again.”

“Deal, and we’ll see about a car.”

“That, that was a joke. I’ll settle for a joyride in one of the works of art in your garage.”

“We’ll see.”

“That is not a no.” She's been making eyes at the Bugatti Veyron for weeks.


	11. The Show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!! Thank you so much for reading my work so far. For the people who read the first 10 chapters after the initial post date I have made some edits and corrections as of July 1, 2020. The biggest changes are to chapter 8. It doesn't change the plot but with the help my bestie/editor/sound board, Ajock3713, I decided that my Tony Stark was a little too character developed for Iron Man 2 and gave him some regression.
> 
> It doesn't effect the primary plot but it does change the tone of how Cas sees and interacts with him which is something I feel is important because he's got trauma and issues and I don't want to dismiss them. Cassandra doesn't know them all so she just works with what she sees and draws her version of conclusions.
> 
> Also, for those curious, I have put my modified timeline for my Universe at the end just in case those detail are important for anyone.

If someone asked her how she is feeling right now, Cassandra would say that she is perfectly fine. One hundred percent super chill. No fear. Relaxed. Calm. Peaceful even. Zen.

It would be a lie of course because she is internally panicking. This is both different and similar to so many things she has done in the past. On one hand, speaking convincingly before a crowd is something that she has done at camp for years. She has had to defend her dissertations before panels of highly educated individuals whose entire job was to poke holes in her findings. However, she is not speaking to her fellow demigods about problems of grave concern to them personally and she is not speaking to the best and brightest in their field about her research.

She is speaking to the mob.

There is a crowd of mostly ordinary people and maybe some of them know what she is offering them scientifically but mostly they just want to be wowed like it's magic. They don’t want the how, they want the shiny object. They want a show.

Under pressure, she’s had some pretty worthwhile plans that involved distraction and slight of hand but she has never once stood before a crowd and had to entertain them with something they have no desire to understand.

She is going to throw up. In the lovely, sharp grey pantsuit that Pepper helped her pick out too.

Shit.

Here lies Dr. Cassandra Campeao, Child of Nike, dead by Stage Fright.

Gods, that would be embarrassing.

Wasn’t she speaking before the Olympian Council a few months ago? Where is that bravery? Or was she still running numb from the battle with Gaea at the time? Who knows? Not her.

She's supposed to be on stage in twenty minutes but she feels like she is about to bolt like a startled pegasus. (Ha. Pegasus, ironic) Cas knows what she's supposed to say but that’s all bullet points, she has to sell it. What is her life?

Then her phone starts ringing and this must be a blessing from the gods because it is Pepper. The muses must have had pity on her, “Ms. Potts, I am so glad to talk to you right now because I think my soul is about to run away from my body.”

 _“It’s good to hear from you, too, Dr. Campeao. I heard you gave Happy the runaround,”_ Are they all still on this?

“I did not. I told him that I had Greek business to take care of. I even finished up early because Mr. Stark said he needed me back here sooner.”

 _“Uh huh. Mr. Stark asked me to check up on you because he’s busy.”_ Small rejection pang is ignored.

“Figured. What happened with the senate hearing?”

 _“You didn’t watch?”_ She sounds surprised.

“Whatever happened wasn’t going to have an effect on my today. I needed to focus. Still do. But cliff notes, please.”

 _“I’ll be sure to email you the highlights.”_ There are highlights. Sounds promising. _“But as for how it went, it was Tony.”_

“Yikes, so funny to me but a headache for you, yeah?”

 _“Exactly, but this isn’t why I called. You are giving your first big presentation and it’s a big deal.”_ And now she is nervous again.

“Yep, I am freaking out here. This is new unexplored territory, Ms. Potts. I feel like I could be talking to Martians out there.”

_“They aren’t martians, Cassie. They’re normal people.”_

“And that is the problem, Ms. Potts. I don’t know any normal people. Don’t say you and Happy, you’ve been around Mr. Stark for too long and have caught the weirdness. I don't know how to charm them and wow them like Mr. Stark does.”

_“Cassie, you don’t need to be like Mr. Stark, you need to be like Cassandra. You’re a demigoddess of victory, aren’t you? Win them over with your own power. Just don’t use any supernatural powers on them.”_

She pauses in her pacing. Win them over with her own power. She can do that. She’s good at talking and winning.

Don’t convince them, win them. It’s a challenge.

“Ms. Potts, that was some excellent and very much needed advice, thank you.”

_“You are very welcome, Dr. Campeao. I look forward to seeing the playback later. Kalí tychí, Cassandra.”_

Good luck, huh? Ms. Potts always seems to be going out of her way. It's technically modern Greek and she barely speaks that but she appreciates the gesture nonetheless. 

She laughs, “Efcharistó, Ms. Potts.” Thank you. Pepper Potts is the best. 

She hangs up just in time to hear the announcer come up over a loudspeaker. A woman that she met yesterday bustles her over to the edge of the stage and does a quick check over her mic. Cas spared the woman little thought because the introduction she is receiving is not the one agreed upon last she checked.

“We have someone very special here today to present the new Stark Personal Communications Line. She is a rising star from our own Stark Industries at twenty one years old. Graduated MIT at seventeen while simultaneously submitting her first doctoral dissertation on electrical engineering and she didn’t stop there earning subsequent PhDs in biochemistry, biochemical engineering, and electrochemical physics. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Dr. Cassandra Campeao.”

The original version did not have nearly so much bragging in it. Dammit, Mr. Stark.

Deep breath.

She is Cassandra Campeao, Daughter of Nike, and she does not lose.

Cassandra crosses the stage with a youthful smile on her face but she carries herself with her chin high and all the importance of the American royalty she technically is. 

She waved at the crowd and waited patiently for them to calm down after she reached center stage. They settled pretty quickly, but it's not like they really know who she is. 

Wait, that’s a lie. She doesn’t recognize the person because they are wearing a hat but that is a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. 

Nice.

Represent.

She opens her mouth to speak and the most unholy feedback occurs from her mic into the crowd and into her ear, “Oh gah-Cheese and Sprinkles,” Even in pain she avoids outing her life as a polytheist and well, there are kids. The occasional swear slips out at camp but she can moderate herself, there is a brain to mouth filter there. 

Now her verbal control does not stop her demigod reflexes from ripping the mic off, snapping the wire, and throwing it to the floor like it’s some kind of serpent. She even nudges it further away with her foot.

After realizing what she has done, before an audience no less, she looks up and decides to own it. She is committed and she can’t lose before she starts. Queue dramatic: well what can you do shrug.

That same sound lady sprints out on stage with another mic ready to shove into her face.

“No, nu-uh. We tried that, it didn’t work. I’m not in the business of repeating the same mistakes. I improve them. Do I even need this?” She turns to the back of the audience and points to the back at some random man and pitches her voice to carry like during a battle, “You, science curious citizen, can you hear me alright?”

She gets some loud replies, “Nope, none of that I can handle a wave or a hand, how about a hand? Hand up if you can hear me back there.” Queue sea of wacky waving hands. “Great, cool, I can work with this. Thanks Miss, but I will pass on your demon mics.” She gets some laughter.

Her ear is ringing a bit but she’ll survive. 

She takes a deep breath to let her audience settle before plunging in.

“What if I told you that in a few months you could have a high speed computer that fits in your pocket? This isn’t a joke. This isn’t Sci-fi. And this isn’t your garden variety smart phone. Everything that you can do on a desktop,” She pulls out her latest model Stark Phone that runs on a Pegasus Processor and raises it up, “will be able to fit in your pocket. This is Pegasus.” 

She turns to the side and gestures at the screen triggering it to show a people friendly display of her processor’s powers. She talks it up and translates what is on the screen into useful snippets. There are lights and pictures and it’s all very pretty. She ignores that her throat will despise her later.

“And why stop at a phone? They can be a bit small. That’s no good for the bigger jobs. The new line of Stark Tablets and Laptops will all come equipped with Pegasus Processors allowing you to do more faster, easier, and with more mobility than ever before.”

She sketches a small stage bow and smiles winningly at her audience and they cheer. They cheer and she finds that this part of the job isn’t so bad. Cas quickly exits the stage where she is ambushed by stage crew who are apologizing.

“I am so sorry, Dr. Campeao. We have no idea what went wrong.” She does, demigod life. It’s like Murphy’s Law on steroids. It’s why her life GPS is so amazing. _Thank you, mother._

“Forget about it, I could really use some water though.” The effect is immediate and they bustle about like ants until she has four bottles. She can’t complain about that result.

From there, she heads around to the pavilion where the sample models of her products (and isn’t that weird to think about) are on display anchored to the tables for use. Cas is supposed to float around for a few hours or so answering questions and generally putting herself out there as approachable. It’s going to be exhausting.

Most of the questions she gets are a bit inane, “What colors does it come in?” She doesn’t know or care, read the displays. She’s more diplomatic about it but it’s the baseline message.

Some are insulting, “How does a girl like you land this kind of job?” Ew. Ummm...did they miss her accolades. Also, she is a girl and she owns it. Girl like her? Her position is well earned, malaka. Go away. 

She does get some good ones that let her flex her brain muscles a little bit but she’s really starting to feel stretched when she hears.

“Does it come in half-blood bronze? Because that should be a thing.” Says a very familiar voice belonging to a dead seventeen year old.

Children of Nike are well acknowledged as the fastest of the demigods but how fast they think is limited by their intelligence. Cassandra is very smart and very fast so it doesn’t take her long to process that what she just heard is very very real.

“Leo Valdez, where the hell have you been?” Of course, the little firebrand is alive. How could he not be? Leo Valdez, the fire blessed child of Hephaestus, going out in an explosion, no way.

It should have been obvious. 

His grin is just as pointed and sharp as she remembers.

“Missed you too, general.” She can’t stop starring. He’s taller than when she last saw him but that was six months ago and he’s a boy. She’s five foot seven and currently in three inch heels making her easy to spot so while she is currently towering over him, she wouldn’t be without her shoes. That’s very new.

“I did not miss that nickname.” She places her hand on his shoulder and squeezes because this is not a place where she can grab seventeen year olds in camp tees for a hug. “For real, Leo, where were you?”

“I found a way back to Ogygia, Cassie.” He didn’t, “I found her again.”

“You freed Calypso?” He nods. By the gods, he did, “Leo, I’m so proud of you and happy for you. She stuck around, right?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to spring this on you because the Argo II was partially your baby even if you aren’t a cabin nine kid. No time like the present, I rebuilt Festus within the skeleton of the ship and when the whole thing exploded he woke up and we flew off.” She gives that a minute to sink in.

“That plan is stupid.” She can't help but get the feeling that he isn't telling her the whole thing either.

“Yep.”

“I’m so glad you’re alive, Zuko, but you aren’t sticking around, are you?”

“No, Calypso has a whole world to see.” Leo Valdez, the knight who rides a shining metal dragon and saves damsels in distress. “But I wanted you to know you have my support with everything you’re doing.” Too much emotion in one place for her.

“Is she here now?” Cas looks around for...what? An absurdly gorgeous greek woman?

“No, she’s not used to the crowds thing. We’re going to start smaller.”

She nods. That’s fair given that she’s been on an island for one since the dawn of civilization. “I assume you swung past camp if you’re here so stay in touch, Aladdin, go show her the world.”

“Yes, ma’am.” One saucy salute later and he is vanishing like only a demigod in kill-me orange can do. That little interaction keeps a smile on her face for the rest of the day despite the mortals she is being forced to interact with.

It makes her so happy that when the temporary driver takes her to the airport that evening she doesn’t complain when she sees the Stark Jet waiting for her again. Also, she did like the seats. Getting in takes a little bit longer because the driver has no idea she can lift all of her things in one hand.

Instead, she patiently accepts his help and watches him struggle up the steps to bring her bags into the cabin. They aren’t even heavy.

Once they take off, Cassandra checks her email for the highlight reel of Mr. Stark’s day in D.C. and she is not disappointed, Ms. Potts must want to bash his head in.

She messages Mr. Stark about her favorite parts (The best is where he uses the phone they designed together to hijack the senate displays.) and ranks moments by the level of irritation visible on Senator Stern’s face.

He congratulated her on what he called a resounding success holding down the fort as he defended his private property but felt that his prostitution joke was his best moment before the senate. “ _Also, Cheese and Sprinkles? That was your PG swear choice._ ”

“ _I was thinking of the children, Mr. Stark.”_

It was another great day overall for Cassandra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline so far:
> 
> December 16th 1987 Death of Howard and Maria Stark
> 
> June 20th 1989 Cassie is born (Luke Castellan is born some time in that year)
> 
> June 25th 1989 Cassie is taken from Olympus
> 
> 1990 The Stoll brothers are born this year
> 
> August 18th 1991 Percy Jackson is born
> 
> 1992 Piper and Jason are born this year
> 
> 1993 Leo Valdez is born this year
> 
> October 10 2001 Cassie drags herself into Camp Half-Blood
> 
> August 16th 2009 Battle of Manhattan fall of Kronos
> 
> February 2010 Tony Stark goes missing
> 
> May 8th 2010 Tony Stark shuts down weapons production at Stark Industries (Made this up but he did go missing February 2010 and he was gone for 3 months)
> 
> May 14th 2010 Battle Against Gaea (This is my first real change I decided on because in the book it is August 1ish)
> 
> June 20th 2010 Cassie turns 21
> 
> June 30th 2010 I am Iron Man (I’m assuming that making the first few suits took a while…)
> 
> Mid August Cassie and Chiron meet Tony
> 
> Events of Iron Man 2 I am choosing to put in Mid December. It was snowing in the Russia scenes but I don’t think it says where in Russia so it’s not overly helpful.
> 
> Also the events of the Incredible Hulk and Thor are taking place at the same time


	12. The New Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!! We are officially entering into AU territory for the Iron Man 2 plot. Obviously with Cas present things are going to go a bit differently as she has a different view point and background to anyone else in the room.
> 
> If you have any questions or want to talk to me about the creative decisions I've made I am happy to but please use courtesy. So far everyone who has commented has been amazing and I really don't want that to change.

Cas’s return to California is understated but that is fine. She has had enough pageantry for a while. Her plans include curling up in her bed with her tablet and ignoring civilization because she needs a few hours wholly for herself. Her time at Camp Half-Blood had some self-care hours but most were interrupted and while she isn’t bothered by it...she needs some time here with just her.

Just a couple of hours is all she wants and it’s all she gets too because Mr. Stark calls her over that evening for stuff he will not elaborate on. Stuff he will not elaborate on turns out to be boxing with Happy and witnessing him signing his company over to Ms. Pepper Potts. (And didn’t that come out of left field) Mr. Stark gave her some line about how he wanted to shift focus more to R&D so he can’t be bothered with the rest of the board anymore.

Cassandra supposed that this wasn’t the strangest activity that she’d been dragged to but she still felt this was unusual for Mr. Stark. Maybe this was some mentor stuff. (Mortals are weird, mortal billionaires are weirder.)Though, when working remotely while he boxed with Happy became a thing she still isn’t certain. Whatever, he’s feeding her real food and she really can’t complain if that’s happening.

Also, her father is pretty talented in the ring. Nowhere near her or really any of her fellow demigods’ skill level but most mortals can’t compare there. She is all too eager to call out corrections and advice and Mr. Stark is a quick study. Happy is halfway decent too but then again, he is a body guard.

Cas sits up and pretends to refocus on the new prosthetic she’s troubleshooting as she picks up Pepper’s heels coming down the hall.

“The notary’s here. Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?” Exasperation thy name is Pepper. And Mr. Stark hasn’t even done anything yet.

Honestly he doesn’t even look away from his spar, good choice because Happy will capitalize.

“I’m on Happy time.” A quick block from Mr. Stark leads to Happy taking an elbow to the face. Not a clean hit but it’s an effective one that she would use in a hand to hand scenario.

“What the hell was that?” _And Happy will not take your cheap shots in his dojo father._

“It’s called mixed martial arts. It’s been around for three...weeks.”

“It’s called dirty boxing. There’s nothing new about it.”

She felt the need to add in, “It’s good for real life and survival though.” Somehow not expecting the sad look Pepper shot her but it cut Happy’s aggression so that’s a win. The spar continues and she doesn’t even pretend she’s not watching anymore. 

Until that feeling comes in. It’s been a while since she felt a genuine danger or threat. Since the gigantomachy knocked the monster population down to an all time low really, but the redhead who comes in is setting off all of her little warning bells. Twenty one years of this life she knows how to spot a threat to her people. And when did this group become her people?

This is a human. This is a threat. And she is way too close to the people she’s gotten attached to.

“I promise you this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company.” Pepper is too close to her but she hasn’t done anything yet. Maybe she wouldn’t, it’s possible she has a bad history. Life happens, look at Cas herself. Look at her father. 

She shouldn’t even bother with self delusions. 

Speaking of her father, it would appear he got distracted by the unknown redhead as well if what Happy is saying is true, but not in the same way she is. However, Cas knows not to stare. Dammit Mr. Stark.

“What’s your name lady?” Mr. Stark no…

“Rushman. Natalie Rushman.”

“Front and center,” No Mr. Stark, “Come into the church.” She can hear Pepper’s denials but…

“Mr. Stark, she doesn’t seem dressed for a boxing lesson.” She kind of wants to see what this woman can do. Maybe some condescending judgement on unnecessarily tight clothes around her father with a playboy reputation could get her into the ring.

“You want in, Cas.”

“Nope. Happy time. I won’t spar with Happy.” She likes Happy but mortals are soft and she gets too competitive which is never a good combination around her. Also, no chance she’s sparing with the unknown suspicious paralegal. Nope. Thankfully, Mr. Stark picks up on that. Maybe she could offer him some lessons later as a thank you. His side kick was a little off center. 

Meanwhile, Ms. Rushman volunteered to entertain Happy by entering the ring and made awkward eye contact with Mr. Stark before accepting a boxing lesson. Why is this her life?

Pepper had migrated over to sit by her and was quickly followed by Mr. Stark. 

“Pep, where’s she from?” No.

“She is from legal and she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that.” Cas fails to repress the snort and regrets nothing. She does fake a smile towards Mr. Stark before returning her gaze to the ring. 

“I need a new assistant, boss.”

“Yes, and I’ve got three excellent potential candidates all lined up and ready to meet you.”

“I don’t have time to meet. I need someone now, I feel like it’s her.” Hades no.

“Mr. Stark, not to quote Star Wars, but I’ve got a bad feeling about her. She’s dangerous.” She really wants this woman gone. Really very badly. Is that prejudiced? They’ve never spoken but she has no desire to. Also, Happy needs to not flirt with her. “I don’t like her.”

Her father does stop at that. She can feel the eyes on the side of her face but at this point she doesn’t turn away from the ring. Greek brain says pay attention.

“How do you spell your name, Natalie?” The woman answers and her father pulls up her information.

“You’re gonna Google her now?” All of them shift to catch a glimpse of Natalie’s resume.

“I thought I was ogling her.”

She notes something worth bringing up. “You worked for HammerTech, Ms. Rushman?” That’s a weird crossover considering it was a rival company to her father’s before he closed the weapons division and her father did just trash Justin Hammer during the senate hearing.

“It was an internship. I learned a lot but it wasn’t somewhere I wanted to work.” Fair. Still weird.

“She speaks Latin? Who speaks Latin?”

“No one speaks Latin. It’s a dead language.”

“I speak Latin.” She started learning the moment Chiron confirmed that there are Romans in California. Cas didn’t want to be caught by surprise if they turned out to be the enemy.

“Correction, Cassandra speaks Latin.” Thank you, Pepper.

“Did you model in Tokyo? Because she modeled in Tokyo.” What is that doing in a resume?

This is getting a little strange for her, “This resume got past security, HR, and legal? Talking about modeling?” She doesn’t understand how a woman could think it’s a good idea to draw attention to a modeling career in this industry unless she wants to be harassed. She won’t be taken seriously at all once those pictures start floating around. And how long has she been here to be trusted with the transfer of the CEO chair? Actually, Cas has only been here four months so maybe it’s not that weird.

Pepper seemed to be catching on to the weirdness that Cas had been feeling since the moment Ms. Rushman entered the room. Though, Mr. Stark, she can’t tell if she’s being taken seriously about this or if he’s not thinking at all right now.

Happy seems to be ready to start the lesson for Ms. Rushman and that feeling is back full force. _Never turn your back on your opponent indeed..._ the spar has a clean end in under a minute when Ms. Rushman throws Happy to the floor. A flirty, redhead, model, paralegal who defected from a rival company has that kind of a take down...sure that’s normal. 

“Happy!” Pepper seems reasonably concerned but she can’t take her eyes off of this woman. _Danger_. That instinct whispers again. She makes a point to look confused as if she’s wondering how it happened but that was too clean for a casual black belt. Cas would know.

Her father though. Mr. Stark rings the bell with a hammer. “That looks like a TKO to me.”

Yeah.

And of course, he flirts with her as he signs his company over to Ms. Potts. She knows that Pepper is more than capable of running SI but she still doesn’t quite understand why he’s doing it. He’s giving a lot of things away recently.

After Ms. Rushman leaves the room though all pretenses are dropped and Cas is leaping into the ring to check on Happy. “Is your neck feeling alright? If she’d done that wrong it could have seriously injured you, although she doesn’t come across as the type.”

“She doesn’t come across as a secret ninja, you mean.” Mr. Stark speaks up from behind her as she tries to make Happy tilt his head this way and that to test for damage. He checks out fine.

“Wouldn’t the whole point of being a secret ninja be remaining secret? If so, she fails. Her reaction time is good but her self control is nothing if she can’t avoid a potentially lethal throw in a light spar. Something is off about her. She’s dangerous.”

She doesn’t quite remember how she earned this kind of trust from them but… “Okay, then we keep her close and have Jarvis keep an eye on her. We’ll see what he can dig up.” He may not know it but, having her father trust her made her feel lighter and made up for dragging her from bed.


	13. The Race

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cas: *training like a Jedi because they so cool*
> 
> Tony: *blasts Zero to Hero from the speakers*
> 
> Cas: *Face plants* Old man!
> 
> Tony: It’s the song of your people
> 
> Guys I own an apology because I am a fake fan. It's been a while since I read the books my mistake really and I misspelled Silena Beauregard's name and I confused Charlie Beckendorf with Chris Rodriguez. I'm going back to fix the first name swap I did. Ugh my bad. Should be fixed in the future.

“Cas, you like fast cars right?” Truthfully, Cas was working right now and really enjoying reviewing simulations on new body armor and vests for soldiers. But when had that ever stopped Mr. Stark from jumping into her life.

“As opposed to slow cars?” There’s no reason to like a car if it isn’t fast.

“Races? Do you watch?”

“Uh. NASCAR no, circles are boring and the people make me uncomfortable.”

He hummed nonchalantly, “True, but what about Monaco?” As in the Grand Prix?

Mr. Stark now had her attention, “What about Monaco?”

“Wanna see our boy race in two days?” The false enthusiasm was way over the top. What is going on here?

“Not sure I can dress for Monaco, Mr. Stark.” The look of surprise on his face actually brought her joy instead of embarrassment. Yay.

“Pack a bag. I’ll call Pep. She’ll get you set up.” Mistakes were made. These shoes may kill her. 

And Pepper enjoyed their Clueless shopping montage way too much to be healthy but the rest of the week proceeded normally. 

In a last ditch effort to save herself some pain, she pleaded with her captors before the flight, “Any chance I can just stay with the car when we get there. The sad engineers may need help. French is such a tricky language.” She was denied because according to her father she needs to spend the race networking, read: talking to stupid rich people. Dammit. She wanted to try and get behind the wheel of their car for a test lap.

The flight itself passed in obscurity because Pepper was there and she was allowed to work on her projects that have deadlines as well as drop in on some groups that had hit snags and read some independent research. 

Some were worth noting.

“The way Dr. Ness wants to flatten these battery cells is beautiful. We’ll be able to make tablets that are like paper thin, maybe foldable. Forget tablets, I could make solar paper instead of panels with this. I want it. Can I have it?” The answer was yes. She will have it.

Others are irritating for her but amusing for others.

“This person is an idiot. Where did he get his degree from? Is it mail order? Gods, this is hideous. Honestly, they should just start over because that pseudo-cartilage does not compress like the articulating surface it’s meant to replace. Dishonor on you.” She is now banned from Disney movies but worth it because she gets to design a new prosthetic knee when they go back to the states.

And some were hidden gems.

“Who is this?” A geneticist? Not much older than her based on the paper she’s reading. Dr. Helen Cho, a brilliant researcher who wants to use technology to stimulate and command the body to regrow tissue. “Mr. Stark, we need this lady. Check this out. Her numbers look good and the theory is sound. Low risk for metastasis. Doesn’t look like she can regrow whole limbs or organs on this line of thinking but the potential is there.”

It was nice and honestly a lot of fun once Mr. Stark gave up trying to distract her and joined her instead. If she pretended that he knew who she was to him then that’s her business.

Of course, it all had to be ruined forty five minutes out from the air strip when Jarvis contacted Mr. Stark with an urgent update.

“Sir, I have found some concerning information about one, Ms. Natalie Rushman.” Oh great. That’s ominous.

“Right, hit me with it J. What did the mini goddess pick up with her danger senses?” She doesn’t find it worth the effort to sigh at this point.

“It would appear to be some sort of alias. I have located multiple reports of her description as well as images of her that connect and implicate her in espionage, collusion, and a few murders.”

That.

That is not what she’d been expecting...actually what had she been expecting? Cas can’t say that she didn’t expect Jarvis to find something but... Natalie Rushman is not her real name and she is some sort of assassin spy. For who? 

Happy and Cas are for once on the exact same wavelength of confused struck dumb. Neither of them are built for this but Pepper and her father on the other hand…

“Jarvis is that all you’ve found? Did you find her employer? Her real name?” Pepper is coming at the problem immediately with the hard and exceedingly relevant questions. Though corporate espionage is real and has likely been an issue before like the double dealing scandal her father found.

“I’m afraid so, Ms. Potts. The only obvious answer I can give you with her discernible skills and resume is that she is a third party contractor sent to infiltrate SI, but I cannot confirm who sent her.” Like a mercenary but for secrets. She hopes it’s for secrets. It makes more sense given that she could have taken her shot at just about anyone by now if she was there to kill someone.

Her father sighs, “J, keep digging. I want her employer. Also, Cas, you can sense spies...that is both surprising and helpful. Good job. I didn’t really expect anything to turn up. For now, I’m not doing anything though, not until we find out how she got here and who sent her. You, Lie Detector,” That is not how her ability worked in the slightest but it would be nice, “are going to stay away from her.” Was that concern? She doesn’t know how to deal with this.

“Mr. Stark, I know exactly nothing about espionage outside of the movies and this doesn’t feel very James Bond. I wouldn’t know what to do.” Annabeth might have a few ideas for her to weigh in on with regards to exposing her but those would be eleventh hour demigod plans and none of those are ever really good. Just survivable.

“Just don’t try to trick or interrogate her or...just keep your distance.” Interrogate her? Like at spearpoint?

“Boss,” Happy’s back, “I’m not comfortable with you keeping an assassin as a PA.”

Her father rolls his eyes, “She’s not here to kill me. If she were it would have already happened.” He’s not wrong.

The rest of the flight is spent in tense silence but Cas questions whether some espionage warranted that sharp response she had to Ms. Rushman the other day.

  
  


~~~

It’s just started and it is already a long day for Cas literally from the moment they arrived in the town car. Happy got to stay with the car despite his and Ms. Pott’s protests and it is so unfair. “The mini mouse over here can protect me from the evil assassin.” True but insulting.

And when Ms. Rushman turned up inside waiting for them, Mr. Stark just breezed right by her giving commands, taking pictures (he made Cas stand in some which sucks because she’s just here for the cars man), and generally being a passive-aggressive menace. It was amazing to watch. 

So, here she was now sitting in a corner table waiting for the race to start having put her phone away because this was not a safe place to work. Also, Ms. Potts has been making her talk to people. When was this decided? Normal people are exhausting. And Cas realizes that it says a lot about the state of her life that these are considered to be normal people.

She thinks that the hat that woman across the way is wearing could have fed her for a week at least. And she eats 12,000 calories a day. 

Cas lost sight of her father after he escaped Justin Hammer. She wouldn’t go near that man with a ten foot pole because he looks like a slimey used car salesman. No, she abandoned Mr. Stark and stuck close to Ms. Potts when he and that journalist approached them at the bar. And despite the journalist showing a passing interest in her regarding the Expo no one found her especially remarkable. It did make keeping an eye on Ms. Rushman much easier.

“Cassie. Cassandra!” That’s frantic.

“Yes, Ms. Potts?” 

“What do you know about this?” About what...oh gods. Her father is about to drive an F1 car around Monaco. That’s amazing! And she is feeling quite a bit of jealousy. Maybe, she can guilt out a few test laps during the plane ride home.

Yeah, probably not, that would never work.

“This is the first time I'm learning about this.” Ah. Plausible deniability. Thank you, Mr. Stark. 

“Happy is still with the car.” 

“Uh huh.” She’s being rude but she is utterly entranced by the screen right now. Truthfully it’s probably easier than piloting the suit with the extra two vectors he has to be concerned about while flying.

“Let’s go. I need Happy.” Well, there are screens everywhere so she isn’t going to miss anything. But then she sees the man stepping out onto the track.  _ That is not a nice man. _

“Car. Now. I’m driving.” She’s out of that room as quickly as she can and leaves her shoes behind because she needs to move right now. “Happy! Keys! Now! Gimme!” She is so grateful that the man doesn’t argue. “Get in the passenger seat and get that cuff off.” She turns back just slightly. “Ms. Potts, are you coming?” 

“I’m right behind you.” She has the keys in the ignition, the car in gear, and her foot on the gas pedal before the woman can finish closing the door.

“Did you see that guy? That looks like an arc reactor. How does he have an arc reactor? Do you recognize him?” This is the kind of thing that Cas is made for. She knows that. High stress and high speed. She breaks through the barrier and weaves through the race cars coming towards her.

“Cassandra, focus on the road!” Ms. Potts does not know that Cas is made for this. Or maybe she does but she doesn’t fully understand what that means. Regardless, Cas doesn’t take offense because this is probably a highly stressful moment for her.

“Did you recognize that man?”

“I’ve never seen him before in my life.” Happy is clutching the case to his chest as she pushes the Rolls up the track and comes up behind the lightning whip man. She can see that her father-Mr. Stark looks alright.

“Happy, open the window.”

“What?”

“Now!” He is quick to listen to as she closes that last chunk of distance before pulling the parking brake and turning the wheel. She’s never done this in a Rolls Royce. She even takes a tenth of a second to apologize to the car because it is not meant for this sort of thing.

Still, it obeys her commands and neatly spins, her tail impacting and sending lightning whip man flying into some debris, and finishes with the passenger window facing her father. Her father, who is currently bleeding. 

If it wouldn’t put everything in jeopardy then she would be out of this car so fast... No, she tightened her grip on the steering wheel. A crazy man in Monaco is not a justifiable reason to expose her abilities and her family in NY.

“Mr. Stark! Take the case!” Happy seems to be in line with what is going on practically throws the thing out the window. She hits the gas and shoots forward on a whim and she is glad that she did because Mr. Lightning whip man is pretty tough for a mortal. The end of his arc reactor ( _ arc reactor? _ ) powered whip and exoskeleton impacts the trunk of the car. And Pepper is not happy if that scream is anything to go by. But to be fair Happy is screaming too. 

She wants to turn around and help. She does. She really does but...she can’t and she doesn’t think Mr. Stark would want her to. Right?

She decides that they are far enough away and turns the car around in time to see Iron Man drag Mr. Lightning (Mr. Lightning whip man is just too long.) towards him by the whip wrapped around his neck. 

She understands now what her friends felt when they were teenagers and she was constantly diving into fights ahead of them. It was to protect them, sure, but being the observer is not a fun experience when her father is in danger. 

She feels it in her chest when Iron Man is flung across the track into one of the wrecked cars. The impact is loud and, gods, her father is a mortal in a metal suit. He is not built for this physically like she is. He’s squishy like Happy and she wouldn’t even throw a punch at Happy in a controlled environment. 

This time, this time it seems to work out because Iron Man pins Mr. Lightning to the ground and rips the arc reactor from his chest.

As the authorities come to arrest the man she eases the car forward hoping that her father will take the hint and get in the car. She wants to look him over.

Despite the situation, it is fascinating watching the suit come off. It’s damaged but it still folds pretty reliably. It's just a bit lumpy now. She unlocks the back door so he can get in but she doesn’t say anything because the man looks very angry. This has not been their day. He was nearly killed like the mortal he is and she would have had to watch...and she never told him.

Ms. Potts has no such hesitation, “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I was being attacked! You’re the CEO. We need better security.”

“So it’s my fault that you were attacked by a mad man after deciding to drive in a race you had no business joining?” Right, she can think later, there seem to be some missing priorities here…

She shall elaborate on those, “Mr. Stark, were you injured?” She’s trying to catch his gaze in the rearview mirror but he is still arguing with Pepper. “Do we need to go to the hospital?”

“No, hotel first. Then I am going to speak to this guy.” Pepper and her father return to arguing with each other. What is her life right now? They should focus on the fact that he is alive and that Mr. Lightning somehow had an arc reactor. Actually…

“How did that man have an arc reactor?” She didn’t see it wrong, the plasma on the whips couldn’t have been anything else.

“I don’t know!” Okay, poor timing. “Get us to the hotel. And why are you driving?”

Cas let’s Happy field that question.


	14. The Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, it's a short one. It'll be longer on Wednesday.

She ended up waiting in the hotel. Not that she minded because she crashed and damn Cas needed it.  _ When did she last sleep? _ And then she was consuming as much food as she could get her hands on in the restaurant. (So socially acceptable portions, but she leaves no leftovers and she’ll eat more soon) All in all this would have been fine if it weren’t for the fact that she spotted Ms. Rushman eyeing her curiously from a reflective surface.

Shit.

Double shit.

And quintuple shit.

She does not need this on top of the repeating sentences in her brain right now.  _ He could have died. He could have died without ever knowing. _

At least the woman has a separate flight back to the states so she doesn’t have to worry while on the plane. She could get some decent hours of sleep during it.

Cas decides that there is no way that she can run away from this without looking even more suspicious so when she turns and catches the spy’s eye she smiles lightly and waves.  _ Danger. _

Yep.

Cas is aware that this woman is an assassin, very aware, but she’s still a mortal as far as she can tell. That means that if Cas pays attention she’ll be fine because she’s faster and stronger and smarter. She made this woman the moment she walked into the room. She’s got this.

“Hi, Dr. Campo, right?” ...rude. The woman (she’s just going to think of her as Natalie because it’s easier even if it’s fake), Natalie, glides into a chair at her table like she owns the place.

“Campeao, it’s portuguese. Ms. Rushman, right?” This woman butchered her dead sister’s name on purpose. 

“Right,” she smiles sympathetically but Cas just sees a threat, “so that was pretty intense on the track today. I’ve never seen something like that before…” Iron Man has been on tv all the time and the fight between the two sets of armors was all over the news so where is she going with this. “You were so brave with how you drove right out there to help Mr. Stark.”

Oh gods, she’s so stupid. That was so stupid. Stupid. Stupid mistake. She reacted like a demigod to danger not like a scared twenty one year old rising star scientist. Shit. She does not need this kind of attention.

She can salvage this.

“I know!” She tries for frantic, “Ms. Potts was so mad at me but I owe Mr. Stark so much and I needed to get out there to help, but all I could do was get him the suit.” And ends on self flagellation.

“You’re driving was definitely helpful.” What is she looking for? She can’t think Cas is some kind of rival because this doesn’t seem like spy vs spy to her. But she has no idea what that would look like so…

“I can’t believe I did that. My friend and I used to do donuts back home once we got our licenses but I’ve never...I’ve...never hit someone with a car before.” She looks down. Because that’s actually all true. Sixteen year old Cas did drag Charlie Beckendorf out to do donuts in the practice car Chiron had brought in for the year round campers. She has never hit a mortal with a car though and that is something she is now thinking about. Gods, if she had killed him would the defense of her father be considered a valid excuse for her?

Doesn’t matter. He’s alive and in a prison cell.

Where he can stay.

“Hey, it’s okay, Cassie.” No. She does not get to use that. But like before with the Olympians, she keeps her head down and lets Natalie control the conversation, “You were protecting Mr. Stark. You probably saved his life.”

She looks up and smiles, “Yeah, you’re right, Natalie. It was worth it, I think.”

“You seem to care about Mr. Stark a lot.” Gotcha. Natalie wants to know who she is and her connection to Mr. Stark. She can answer that.

“I mean, yeah, he’s my boss.” Push a little more Ms. Rushman.

“That’s it? You risked your life for some employee loyalty.” 

“No!” She’s indignant, “Mr. Stark has taught me a lot. He’s a mentor. I respect him. And I guess I care a bit too, now.” There, all true. She hopes that she’s convincing enough and that Natalie moves along. They talk a little bit more to the point where Cas has no choice but to give the woman her contact information when she asks for it without being more suspicious.

Ugh...she remains hopeful that the flight will be better.

~~~

She does not get any decent hours of sleep on the plane. She was instead woken up by the sound of Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts bickering again. Gods, this is starting to be normal for her. 

“The kid’s asleep, don’t worry. Look, I don’t want to go home.” Is that her? She’s the kid right? “Let’s cancel my birthday party,” What? “And we’re in Europe. Let’s go to Venice, Cipriani. Remember?” Not happening. 

“Would you at least do Greece instead of Italy? We don’t mix well...and I really don’t like Rome.” No, no she does not. Rome is the worst place on the planet as far as she’s concerned. Of course she’s not fully awake and her face is pressed into a couch.

“Sorry Cassandra, but we need to get back. We’re kind of a mess right now.” Because that embarrassment of a senator wants to take her father’s suits? There is something wrong with that man, no one should be that stuffy all of the time. She can kind of see their point though because no one thought that her father’s arc reactor was replicable. Now it is and people are scared so they need to go home and reassure everyone that Iron Man is fine. There’s also probably some other PR issues Ms. Potts needs to attack anyway. In a way she almost feels pity for anyone who tried to stand against her. Pepper is awesome.

“How do you not mix well with a country?” 

She levels him with the driest stare she can manage without caffeine, “It’s a greek story involving vague and still not understood magic. You really wanna sit through that.” He shivers comically at the M-word but she holds back her smile. She’s glad he chose not to press. As long as she lives, she has no intention of allowing him to find out about that time she tried to save her almost sister with her almost sister’s boyfriend and they all took a tumble into Tartarus. Yeah...not happening.

Mr. Stark grumbles but doesn’t raise more than a minor fuss when it becomes clear that they were returning to the States under Pepper’s rule of law.

Instead, she wakes up enough to pick Pepper’s brain about how the military and government might respond to a situation like this because it’s unprecedented. Her father ignores them. Apparently, he is a little raw about someone stealing his ideas and weaponizing them. She’s not surprised. 

When she gets the courage though, “So...my actions on the track…” How to put it in a way that doesn’t freak out the people she respects?

“Yeah, good job by the way. Not in the job description.” What even is her job title officially? Filed away for later consideration. “But you definitely performed admirably.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t help more but-”

“Stop, you got the suit to me and Happy and Pepper are unharmed. You did good. No reason for you to out yourself like that.” Oh good, he agreed.

“Right, good. Only I caught Rushman’s eye. She was watching me at the hotel and we had a talk. Which sucked because I was planning on ordering another meal before I left but I didn’t want to add bottomless appetite to my list of visible attributes. I think I did a little too well on response time and composure for her.”

“Son of a bitch. We need to...you? You need to be more careful. Don’t take any risks with this.”

She shook her head, “No need to worry. I won’t do anything stupid. It’s not my style.” Hundreds of demigods just got chills, “There’s no real reason for me and her to interact so… I’ll just keep my distance.” For some reason Pepper and her father do not look reassured, she’s not either. Instead.  _ He could have died. He could have died without ever knowing. _ On repeat.

She watches them both cautiously and tries to keep her thoughts off of her face.

She makes a decision. 

“When we get back I need to grab something from my apartment but after...after we need to talk. The three of us, it’s very important.” She needs the only physical piece of evidence to confirm her identity, it’s a photograph of her parents from that very brief period of time they knew each other. Her father is about twenty in it, she thinks. Of course, she doubts her father remembers and he didn’t even know he was with Nike.

Chiron is going to be so smug.

She turns away before they can ask her any questions. It’s very rude of her to dismiss them like this but...she can’t. She really really can’t, not here.


	15. The Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys...it's happening

She figured when they got back that they would not be able to talk right away. Too much had happened. Somehow though Cas manages to be important enough to warrant both of them in Mr. Stark’s office (Now Ms. Potts’s) in the early afternoon of the next day. 

“This is going to sound stupid but are we one hundred percent certain that there is no super secret spy gear in here.”

Mr. Stark just raises a brow at her, he doesn’t look like anything can affect him anymore. Ha. She sincerely doubts that.

Jarvis, helpful as ever speaks up, “Dr. Campeao, I can confirm that there are no foreign listening devices in Mr. Stark’s office.”

“Best get started then.” Her hands are shaking so she keeps them hidden.

One deep breath in through her nose.  _ Hold it Cassandra, think about what is causing you pain. _ Chiron’s ever present lessons helping her maintain her control.  _ 1, 2, 3, and let it out. _ Feeling considerably more settled Cas lets her hands unclench from the fists in her lap. She still found it difficult to raise her eyes from the desk to look Mr. Stark-  _ yourfatheryourfatheryourfather- _ in the eye. 

“Alright Cas, you got us all here in suspense. What’s the damage?” He was at least attempting to sound patient, “You dragged both of us down here, so what did you do? Parking ticket? Missing homework?”

_ He almost died, again, an ocean away from home in Monaco and he never would have known. _

Either way she couldn’t hold back the snort, “No Mr. Stark, I did my homework and even prepped for the spelling bee.” It worked though and got her to look at him.  _ Deep breath and let it out. _ He’s done so much and he deserves the truth.

“Good to know,” he sighed, “What’s eating you, kid?”

Serious time. Great. She can do serious things. She did serious things all the time. She has her own lab now. Responsible example of a functional adult right here.

“You know,” she glanced at Pepper before returning her focus to her father- _ he’s still Mr. Stark, he’s never going to let you call him dad after this,  _ “When Chiron and I came here for help months ago I never dreamed that so much would come out of it. Honestly, I was, no am, so so grateful for what you did for me and the others like me…”

“You would have gotten there eventually.” He cut in.

“Maybe, but there’s no telling how many more of us would have fallen before I managed to get any workable prototypes up. With your help, we saved and will continue to save a lot of kids. But it’s not just that because after you did so much for me. Letting me come into R&D which is insane, letting me into your company, letting me into your life.”

“And you’ve returned that investment. How many projects have your hands in them now?” She couldn’t help the glare she shot him for interrupting her again.

She relaxed and raised a brow, “They would have gotten there eventually.” Then she re-squared her shoulders and tried to look as serious as she had the first time she spoke to him, when she faced down a dragon, when she crossed Tartarus...was this wigging her out more than Tartarus?

“The point is you have been beyond generous and...and kind and I had ulterior motives when we picked you to approach and despite Chiron’s...nagging and mother henning I wasn’t planning on telling you.” She couldn’t look at him anymore. Thank the gods, Mr. Stark had such large windows in his office. 

Pepper chose that moment to interject, “Cassandra, what did you do?”

Sensing the change in mood, she tried to reassure them, “It isn’t anything bad, Ms. Potts. Well depends on how you look at it but it’s not harmful. Not really, but it’s a secret I chose to keep and honestly if you don’t want it to it won’t change anything because you’ve done so much already and it’s not like you…”  _ owe me a gods damned thing just because I’m your daughter.  _ She stopped. 

“I really, really didn’t want to tell you because I like what’s here, Mr. Stark.” Dammit he was looking at her weird now. “I like that I get to learn from you and that I get to work here and make things that will help people. I love that and I didn’t-don’t want that to change. And I was scared that if I told you the truth that you wouldn’t-”  _ want to be within a hundred yards of me-  _ “...that you would think I was trying to slip in and take advantage of you. And that could not be further from the truth because I really just wanted to meet you. I was just so damn curious and I wanted to know because who wouldn’t if they were in my place.” She paused to think some more.

“Kid, come on. Just spit it out.” Right. Okay, rework. 

“I really wasn’t going to say anything. I was just going to continue being here I guess but then in Monaco you...you almost died. And I realized that it wasn’t fair that I know you now at least a bit. Sort of. As much as you’ve allowed me to anyway.” Gods, she can’t say it but she reaches into her pocket for her wallet and pulls out that one photograph. That smoking gun. Then she places it face down on the desk in front of her. 

“What’s this?” She allows herself to truly think of him as her father. Just for a little while. He’s going to throw her out soon anyway and she’ll make her way back to New York. Such is life and all that. 

“My mother gave me this when I was sixteen.” She closes her eyes and swallows before meeting her father’s very confused gaze. “It’s the only picture I have of her with...with my father.” Cas felt rather than saw them both tense but forced out another sentence. “I can take this and leave if you want.” Her hand not leaving that Damocles sword in the middle of the desk. “We can pretend this never happened or I could leave, I guess. I mean I don’t want to but I would.” A larger calloused hand gently slides that damned photo from her hand and she hears him- _ her father- _ take a shuddering breath. 

Cas refuses to look up but can’t stop the babbling when neither of them say anything, “I promise it’s real and I’d also do a DNA test. I thought about doing one before but I figured that it would be creepy if I stole your DNA and then you’d want to confirm from your own lab anyway, so that'd be pointless. But on the other hand, I could totally just leave.” Neither of them move or say anything. “Right so I’ll just…” A quick glance around the room reveals a shocked Pepper but her father- _ fantasy is over back to Mr. Stark- _ sigh. “I’ll go. Umm, can I have that back? I promise I’ll stay away.” She used to enjoy looking for the similarities in their faces and hers. Now...not so much.

His face is blank. She can’t read him at all. There are no little pushes to guide her to her goal. Gods, what was her goal in all of this again? “Mr. Stark?” He still isn’t saying anything. Truthfully neither is Pepper and she is running out of words here.

“You know what, I’ll just leave. It’s cool. I can put in a resignation and I’ll be gone in no time. This was a mistake. I’m sorry.” She stands and turns to leave feeling more embarrassed than she has in years. Dammit. She could have stayed quiet but she just...not anymore. Then the chair behind her crashes to the ground and she freezes looking over her shoulder to see her father staring and seeming to drink in her appearance seriously for the first time. Before he walks around the desk right into her space.

His voice is so small and that can’t be right, “You...you’re my daughter?”

And just like that all of the words that had fallen out just dry right up. And Cas can only nod. She tracks his hand with her eyes as he brings it up to her face and just sort of holds it there not quite touching but close enough that she was aware of exactly where it was.

“You’re  _ my  _ daughter?” 

“...yes.” She croaks out. 

A small hiccup has her glancing at Ms. Potts and as it turns out she is  _ crying _ ??? What?

“How does a kid like you end up as my daughter?” Well, that question needs a large amount of unpacking. Like literally, spiritually, existentially... Exhaustion, indecision, and excess emotion are getting to her at this point.

“Do you mean biologically? Because I really don’t feel like I need to explain that at this point.” Dammit. Down sass, now is not the time.

But Pepper barked out a wet laugh, “Yeah, she’s yours. I should have seen the resemblance before now.”

Cassandra has now officially entered the Twilight Zone and attempts to communicate this to Pepper telepathically.

“Deflecting any and all undesired emotions. Escaping when people put their unwanted plans on you.” This was not what Cas was expecting here. Lawsuit threats, yelling, and general rejection were expected. Maybe some NDAs and some quick talking with lawyers to keep her away from her father- _ Mr. Stark.  _ Speaking of...he’s kind of frozen staring at her like she’s simultaneously the most fascinating and tragic thing he has ever seen.

“Ummm...Mr. Stark? Are you okay?” He flinches like she’s struck him before turning and running his hands through his hair. He looks very determined to wear a hole through the floor with the aggravated pacing he has taken up.

Shit.

Okay, she is clearly causing some distress here. A small part of her (okay a huge part of her) was over the moon and halfway to Mars because  _ HOLY SHIT THEY BELIEVE HER _ . But still she wasn’t doing this to cause problems. “This really doesn’t need to be a complicated issue...” She has more to say that involves more pretending nothing has changed, but yeah…

“Ms. Potts, I need you to contact legal so we can update my will to include an heir.” Her eyes bug out of her head and she tries to cut him off, “And we need to get the paperwork filed to change your name.” He turns briefly, “Do you want to change your name? Don’t answer that, you need to or the media will make this an even bigger shitstorm.” 

He continues to list out instructions to Pepper who just writes it down like she’s still his assistant, but Cas is frozen in shock.

No.

No.

Nope.

Nu-uh.

This is not what was supposed to happen. Wanting her gone, or dismissing it. That was the expected outcome here. What?

“Mr. Stark!” Oh thank the gods, he stopped for air. “I-this isn’t- I don’t deserve any of that. And you don’t owe me any-”

“I’m dying.” What? “I’m dying. We talked about the arc reactor way back...whenever. About the core, remember? You nearly figured it out back then with all that talk about how it would be toxic to a biological system." The core. The palladium? The palladium core that is being depleted by the reaction in his chest to power the electromagnet also in his chest? That core. The one that houses a heavy metal depletion reaction attached to a human body.  _ Depleted Heavy metal in a human body. _ That is supposed to be contained by the casing which inspired the technology she developed for demigods. That core?

Oh.

Oh no.

It should have been obvious but this is a design by Dr. Anthony E. Stark, her genius father who invented Iron Man in a cave. Why would she think he made something that will kill him? He’s Iron Man...but he’s also mortal.

He’s looked so tired recently when he’s been around. And he’s been giving away all those things. And he made Pepper into the new CEO. And her...all that lab time. All that networking and those lessons. Has he been guiding her into...into what?

“Heavy metal poisoning…?” She forces out quietly. In the background she could hear Pepper starting to yell. He put the arc reactor in roughly seven or eight months ago. All this time? Since before they’d even met? How is he alive right now? But there’s a whole table full of elements out there. One of them or a compound or alloy has to serve as a viable substitute for palladium. And in the meantime she can develop a temporary solution for the symptoms.

Oh gods, the symptoms. Hadn’t she noticed that he looked pale? Just working too hard he said...long flight he said. She didn’t press because all her time with him is a gift. But here’s her father casually dying with what should amount to severe muscle and joint pain, vision and acuity issues. Aren’t memory issues a symptom too? Just like when he forgot her in his home.

How did no one notice?

Those are treatable and there has to be a way to flush the palladium from his body while they come up with a new core. Some form of dialysis maybe? No, not viable in the time frame. Wait, what is the time frame? A carrier protein to transport it to the excretory system? Does she have time for something like that?

“How long?” She forces out. Oh looks like Pepper is still yelling about the dying part. Cas notes that she’s missed about twenty seconds.

_ How did no one notice? _

“What was that?” Mr. Stark quickly locked on to what she was saying.

“How long until the damage is irreversible?” Please don’t be too late.  _ We only just met. _

“Not long now. Few weeks maybe.”  _ A few weeks...so little time but if she got started on it right away. Base it on a heme group. _ She can make a protein that would recognize palladium.  _ But in a few weeks? _

JARVIS chose that moment to contribute to the conversation, “Less than one week to nonviable blood toxicity, sir.” He’s still going to lie about it?

“That’s not enough time.” She whispers out. That’s no time. That’s less than seven days. That's almost nothing.

“And that’s why we gotta move fast. I gotta make sure your name is on everything.”

“But...I don’t deserve any-”

“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there. Because apparently I got a genius kid who’s a real life hero that wants to science the world into a better place.” That’s flattering, “I was planning on pushing you as far up the R&D ladder as I could before D-day but this complicates things.” He seemed to stop and think. “I’d thought of everything. Everything was set, the PA spy is an irrelevance long term with me dead and the suits locked down. They should lose interest once Rhodey... Pepper has the company but you, Cas, you were supposed to be...you were supposed to be not attached to this,” He gestures at himself, “Outside of the job but this... one day it would have come out. Someone would have seen the similarities that I ignored. And I can’t ignore that now and I have to cover for you too.”

"I don't see how this requires you to claim me as your child. That photograph is the only evidence." When confused default to formalities. "Mr. Stark, I’m biologically your daughter but you do not owe me anything because of that. I just wanted you to know." This is spiraling.

"Tony!" Pepper's back. "Heavy metal poisoning! You need to go to the hospital!" 

"No." He returns to Cas. "Few more years of training, Cassie, and if Pepper thinks so, all this could be yours. Along with all the pull to support your ‘demigods stepping out of the closet plan.’ And god, I was just going to die and leave you to Pepper. You’re far easier for her to handle than me." He vaguely gestures with his hand while casually dismantling her current understanding of life. That was never the plan, she never saw herself as a potential CEO. All she wanted was to help the demigods and she wants to have a father now. And she needs to fix this. She can, she’s a victorious child of Nike that doesn’t lose.

Okay, she needs Ms. Potts to join the main convo. "Some white coats in a hospital won't help, Ms. Potts. Their only option is to remove the arc reactor, which would kill him in hours not days. There's no medical option, it's an engineering issue." Her father snapped his fingers and pointed at her, pleased that she’d figured it out. “There’s no substitute for the palladium?” 

“No, I’ve tried every possible combination and permutation of all known elements and none of them worked.” Every one…?

“Dying?” Pepper whispers out. Crap. Miscalculation. This is becoming too much for her. It’s becoming too much for all of them really.

“Hey Pep, don’t cry.” Cas can barely quantify the reality she was currently breathing in. Distractions are needed. She needs to think. 

Problem: Her father is dying because of his arc reactor but it can’t be removed because the arc reactor that is poisoning him is also keeping him alive. 

Goal: Replacement core that isn’t toxic for the arc reactor.

How to get there? She needs unlimited access to the arc reactor and if she were in his will and if she agreed to take up all he’s offering...she can work with this.

“I’ll do it.” She spoke up strongly. “Name, will, executive life lessons, the whole kit and kaboodle.” Amazing how easy it is once she has a direction again. She can solve this. It’s just another problem and she’s good at those. “If you let me take a crack at the arc reactor problem and try to find a treatment for your symptoms.” She crossed Tartarus in a week, that had to have been worse odds.

“Did you not hear me? I already tried the entire periodic table, Cas. There is no fix. I’ll be dead in a week.” Who is this man? All of the evidence she has of her father suggests that he never quits, never slows down. Indomitable, like her mother said. 

“I don’t care!” Gods how does she say this, “I just got you in my life four months ago! If I can’t solve it then fine but if you want me to sign anything to take your name, which is a huge fucking deal for me by the way, then I want to try and save you!” This isn’t an unreasonable request and if she fails it changes nothing. She wants a shot.

Maybe she shouldn’t have yelled, maybe she should have told him sooner or not at all, but she did and now she knows he’s dying. And he wants her to just let it happen. They’re both looking at her like she had appeared from nowhere, before Ms. Potts walks up and hugs her. Unexpected but she is in fact a very gifted hugger. Cool. 

“There’s the temper.” He can’t die, “Kid, I can’t leave you with nothing now that I know you’re here. You need to understand that.” Ms. Potts steps back so she can face her father.

“I-...” Cas is all out of manners now, “Old man, I don’t need to understand a godsdamned thing. I am making a deal with you. A shot at the arc reactor in return for my compliance that’s all.” Leave her with nothing? He’s given her everything she’s asked for, plus extra.

She’s so far past spent right now and she really wants some space to regroup but she doesn’t have any time.

“Tony,” Pepper seems to have gotten herself under control for the moment and Cas is grateful because she needs help, “We need to tell Rhodey and Happy about Cassandra and that means telling them the truth about you as well.”

“I really don’t think we do. In fact, too many people know right now.” She flinches, “That’s not-look I’m not the father type.” That’s well established, “And you’ve been doing well, obviously, but you were so better off without me in your life.” No she wasn’t. “Probably for the best you weren’t raised by me.” Ha. She’s going to pretend he didn’t say that because he has no idea what her life has been like.

“No, I wasn’t.” He doesn’t get to talk about her past like that or what’s best for her.

“Cas, listen-”

“No, you listen. We don’t get to pick our parents and that is a sappy hallmark line but it's the truth. We do get to pick what people are important and what people we want around. You're irresponsible, and annoying, and a control freak, and you drink too much, but you listened to and helped what amounted to a strange girl and a horse man with very little prompting. Where is this going...the point is that I am choosing you. Today was me telling you that I’m your daughter and I view you as my father. Please, don’t throw me out for hiding it. But now you’re dying again...and I want to help.”

Her father stands tensely and Cas realizes that she has backed him into a corner today. He never saw this coming and she almost feels guilty but then she remembers that he was planning on dying without giving anyone a heads up. 

He sighs heavily and looks lost but she feels victorious, “Pepper, call Rhodey and tell him to meet us at the house. Jarvis, have Happy bring the car around.”

She had walked into this believing that she would be thrown out on her ass but this...this is something else that she can’t even comprehend fully right now.

Gods, she might have to go to another funeral.


	16. The Chance

An hour later she’s sitting on her father’s overly fancy couch which has become her sometimes bed, with scattered take out boxes all over the room. Most of them were emptied by her and she doesn’t think she will ever be used to the faces mortals make when she really gets to eating. Doesn’t matter how awful reality is, if a demigod can eat they will.

Both Rhodey and Happy look like they are about to cry but are trying to be men about it and her father looks resigned with a drink in his hand.

“Let me get this straight, you’re dying from the arc reactor that is keeping you alive and you’ve just discovered that you have a twenty year old daughter that got herself a job at SI for a chance to know you.” She hasn’t met him in person before but Rhodey is looking simultaneously confused and heartbroken.

“Well, when you put it like that it sounds like a telenovela.” She needs to shut up now. “And I’m twenty one not twenty.”

“You’re definitely Tony’s daughter.” She’s aware. “I mean I saw the resemblance and the brain, of course. And after the airport...” Happy really needs to let that go because there are priorities. Everyone seems fixed on the wrong thing and her father is not helping.

“Okay, Hap,” Please get to the important matters, “I think we can agree she has my brain. You know she has multiple PhDs.” Dammit. She knew he was arrogant. She can be arrogant, it’s clearly inherited but… 

“Yes, Tones. We heard you the first time.” Exactly, Rhodey gets it. He’s talking around them and not about the issue of his Final Countdown.

If he was doing this to take a crack at the proud father thing and catch up on twenty one years of not knowing her that would be fine, but that is not what he’s doing. Her father is avoiding the conversation of what comes next because he was clearly never planning on telling them.

It was surprising how well Happy and Rhodey took the news about her. But compared to the existence of energy based immortal beings called Olympians and their half human offspring, Tony Stark having a daughter he didn’t know about is much easier to swallow. 

She’d had Jarvis send her Rhodey’s reactions to the data on the demigods weeks ago. It was priceless.

Stupid brain. 

Not the time. 

Rhodey seems to be done waiting for her father to cough up an explanation though, “Were you even planning on telling any one?”

“Jarvis knows. And you all know, too, I guess.” He pauses to sip his drink. “We gotta talk about the suit.” The suit… “See, I considered just dismantling them but then I thought someone is going to catch up eventually. So, I built another one and it’s for you, honeybear.” Ah, of course. There’s no one else it could be.

Her father really does plan for almost everything. His company goes to Pepper, R&D to her, and Iron Man to Lt. Colonel James Rhodes.

And then she screwed it up by popping out of the woodwork and yelling “Surprise, it’s a girl.” She’d feel bad but he’s been hiding his condition. She chooses to ignore her hypocrisy because her hiding being his daughter wasn’t hurting anybody like his death will.

“Of course, the contract I have drafted leaves it as property of SI being loaned out for piloting by you and any and all maintenance has to be done or approved by Dr. Cassandra Campeao.” He thought of everything and he was going to have her look after Rhodey. She can’t decide if she’s angry at having this decided for her or amazed at how much he considered and trusted her.

Rhodey is as speechless as is everyone else but he nods numbly and says he has to make some calls before leaving.

The room sinks into silence again because no one can think of how to move forward. Cas thinks that this situation literally cannot get any worse. Which is of course the exact moment that it does.

“Sir,” Jarvis cuts in, “I have discovered more information regarding Ms. Rushman. It would appear that Natalie Rushman is an alias for Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow. A shield operative, sir.” What? Those enhanced collectors? Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

She is aware of Happy’s and Pepper’s general outrage in her peripheral but...

“Shit.” Her father seems to be on the same page as her which is surprisingly comforting. Does he know Shield too? She would ask but she is too frantically back tracing every action and step she has taken in the past few...weeks? Months? She needs to know if Camp Half-Blood is safe.

She can’t think of a singular moment where she could have given herself away as an enhanced. But she had to have because why else would Shield have an interest in SI. In her father maybe? If that is the case, why send a spy? He’s a public figure and they could approach him directly with a proposition.

“Cassandra!” 

“What?” Whoops. Ms. Potts looks very concerned and her father is hovering just outside of her space. She looks down and sees she’s squeezed the chair seats just a little bit too hard if the tears in the upholstery are any indication. “Zoned a bit. Sorry. What were you saying?” They did not need this kind of a blow too, not when she needs to be focusing on arc reactors.

“Cas, what do you know about Shield?” Oh? They already know about Shield then. Makes sense if she thinks back to what Jarvis said exactly. There is clearly some familiarity there meaning it’s best to rip off the band-aid then.

“I know that Shield has an eager and persistent interest in what they call enhanced individuals.” She takes a breath to collect herself. “And I know that they’re a shadow spy network like something out of MIB that make questionable decisions and believe that they can decide what humanity is ready to learn about.”

This is honestly a worst case scenario and she is kicking herself for even questioning that it could get worse.

Her father leans back and runs a hand through his hair, “So these guys would not like the idea of a society of enhanced kids trying to live their lives and that would make them your natural enemy. That, that makes sense actually. Fury did suggest that there are other ‘superheroes’-” She snorts at that, “He tried to get me to join his super secret hero club after Obie-after the press conference.” 

That.

That complicates things because…

“So is she here for you? Or is she here for Cassandra?” Pepper hesitantly brought up the elephant.

Oh gods.

Why is this her life?

“I’m not worried about me because… Romanoff? She didn’t show an interest in me until after the Prix and she had already been here for a while.” A thought occurs to her, “Actually, do they know? About you dying? If not, then why is she here?”

Her father covered his face with his hands before standing, “The Iron Man tech maybe, or anything SI related that could be useful but they can’t get access to legally because I didn’t invite them in.” He looks so tired again. Dammit. “J, go back through security and review Agent Romanoff’s interactions for the duration of her employment. I want to know who she’s spoken with and if there are any others in the company.”

This is so out of her comfort zone. She’s used to much more direct enemies, but her father seems to be handling this much better and Pepper seems to be calming down too. Maybe it’s because she has a target she can attack.

“So...right, how do we play this then?” To be honest, she wants to dump the spy in a desert somewhere and leave. It’s California so there are plenty. The Widow has training, she’ll probably survive long enough for an evac to find her, but that won’t solve their new problem of ‘who let her in?’ and ‘what does she want?’

“You,” he points at her, “are going to keep your distance from her.” Too late for that. “Happy.”

“Yeah, boss.” The man looks so confused.

“You’re the new head of security. Sorry, but you’re going to have to deal with some of this...mess.” That causes some backlash but at the same time Happy is loyal so he’s a reasonable choice for something like that...if he’s qualified.

“I don’t particularly like them...but can we check the Shield servers for something?” Three sets of eyes are suddenly on her. Did she skip some steps out loud to get there? Oops. Backtrack a bit. “It seems weird to me that Shield is now taking such an active interest in your life after you turned them down.” A ‘no’ from her father would be rather direct in her mind.

“If they just want your stuff there doesn’t seem to be a reason to be this hands on. I mean Ms. Potts-”

Pepper cut her off, “Cassie at this point out of the office just call me Pepper.”

She blinks more than a little bit surprised but continues, “Right, Pepper, you did a lot of work as a personal assistant and you’re always around. There has to be an easier way to keep tabs on if...well if he’s died or not yet like the mansion cleaning staff. Where she placed herself, with perfect timing, allows her to study him at the end.” She’s having some trouble with the morbidity of this conversation.

“But why is that important?”

She’s grasping but she has a thread of a good feeling towards the goal of saving her father.

“Cassie is suggesting that Shield may be holding out on a cure, assuming they know I’m dying, in order to see how I react to inescapable death.” It would be like a Kobayashi Maru without consent.

So, what are they testing for? Provided that they’re even aware that her father is dying...but she is so certain that Shield is in the direction of a solution for her.

“But that is all assuming they could know. And they can’t.”

“They could,” Pepper whispers.

“Pep, I know you want there to be one but there isn’t a solution here.”

“No,” She’s more certain now, “Agent Coulson” Cas doesn’t know anyone named that but bets he’s Shield, “He’s the agent from the press conference. He stayed in contact to see if we needed anything. Offered help. I was grateful and I didn’t think.” She sees where this is going but she doesn’t see Pepper as being at fault.

“He asked you how I was adjusting and you told him I was behaving even more fantastic and outlandish than before, right?” Her father doesn’t seem upset at her either.

“I did. Oh God, Tony, I’m so sorry.”

“No.” Oh there it is. He’s livid too. “It’s not your fault, Pep. He’s a Shield suit and he was using you to get to me. And that...that does not fly. Nope. They came at me through you and my company. This-” He inhaled sharply. “J, we don’t have the time to do this carefully. Find Romanoff’s outside contact and send them an invite. Three guesses say, it’s the pirate.” 

“Shall I contact Ms. Romanoff directly, sir.”

It gets very quiet and Cas holds her breath waiting to see what her father will decide to do.

“Yes,” Thank the gods, “But you three need to get out of here.”

Cas is certain that she can come up with several good reasons for why it's a very bad idea to leave her dying father alone with Shield operatives. She is. However, it has been a very emotional forty eight hours and she’s not at the top of her game right now. So, Cas sits there and stares at her father like he has just declared...well she doesn’t actually know, she doesn’t have a simile for this one.

Luckily her father’s bodyguard is still in the room, “That’s not going to happen, boss. This is getting very shady and we can’t leave you alone with these people,” She’s grateful that Happy has managed to put into words what she cannot right now, “I mean I understand the kid,” Not happening, “But Ms. Potts and I can speak for ourselves.”

“He’s right, Tony.”

“No, no he is not right because I am telling you all to leave.” Her father’s starting to get that cornered look in his eye again but they can’t leave.

“Mr. Stark, as your new head of security I am telling you that I can’t.”

She needs to say something. It’s important and she doesn’t know how he’s going to respond because nothing has been going like she thought it would for the last two days. She still needs to say it, “Dad,” He looks like he’s in pain when he registers it, “I will not leave.”

Her father must respect her at least somewhat despite all of the lies between them because he says, “Cas, I know you're a badass mini god but this is for me to deal with.” 

Sure, he can claim that but she has a rebuttal, “It could be but if you’re right and you do die, Shield will take an interest in me regardless because you’ve labeled me as someone that can work on Iron Man with Rhodey. Beyond that I will come into conflict with Shield because of my goals. Outside of you, this is my problem now too.”

Her father crosses the room to refill his drink and then knocks the whole thing back in one go, “Cassie can stay, both of you need to leave. I’ll contact you after we’re done. She’s right that she’s going to have to deal with Shield no matter what at this point but I need both of you to stay out of this.”

“Tony-”

“Go, Pepper. It’s going to be fine. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I’m doing.” That is one hell of an epitaph.

They don’t look convinced by her father’s words.

“It’s going to be okay now, Pepper. I promise. You and Happy can leave.” Since her father agreed to contact Shield she’s been feeling better about this whole...well her father called it a shitstorm before. It’s an accurate description in her mind. And now that she doesn’t have to fight him about staying she feels back in control.

They’re reluctant to leave, with good reason, but eventually Pepper and Happy leave Cas and her father alone to face whatever Shield decides to send.

She’s waited for worse visitors.


	17. The Shot

The wait is awkward and Cas doesn’t know how to broach the silence that is hanging between her and her father. She sits quietly while going through the news of the evening and is reluctant to look at him. He’s looking at her though.

He’s being careful about it and not staring but she notices because despite her best efforts to remain calm she is hyper aware of everything in the room as her instincts keep her thinking about the incoming danger. Cas has no clue when it will arrive but she knows it will and she also knows that this danger is necessary to save her father. It’s not unlike the first time she went into the labyrinth years ago in an attempt to map it. She felt dread as she stared down that hole into the blackness but there were answers at the other end of her little journey (little is relative she came out in Georgia) if only she dared to step inside. 

There is nothing interesting on the tv that she can find, she has zero desire to eat anymore today, and she is wired now so she won’t be sleeping any time soon. In spite of what she knows is coming she is not afraid, it’s just dread. She can wait and she can be patient but gods does she hate it. Cas is made to move but she can’t move towards a goal right now instead she’s waiting for it to come to her. 

“Why MIT?” Cas guesses that her father has had his fill of silence for the past two hours as well.

“I had a feeling.” It was more like a fixation really, once Cas picked up the brochure she had no desire to touch any others. At first Chiron thought she was being stubborn but even at thirteen she was adamant and determined to go even if she had to walk to Massachusetts. “None of the others were right, I needed to go there.”

Her father seems confused at the notion, “Did you visit first?”

Ha.

Oh father.

She doesn’t want to explain fate to him, the control freak, but…

“Nope, all of the other colleges were wrong for me. I needed to go to MIT.” She really does not want to explain fate and the level of irony that is present in every demigod's life. Her unknown father went there. It's a muse worthy drama that she ended up there too.

“Whatever.” She hears his glass rattle as he refills it again.

The silence is more tense than before despite the broadcaster covering the Monaco story. The shot changes and Cas catches the date on one of the screens in the background. Gods, she completely forgot what today is.

“I just remembered the date, I’m sorry, it’s your birthday. I kind of ruined that didn’t I...sorry.”

He huffs out a sad excuse for a laugh, “I wanted to cancel it anyway, finding out you have a kid is a good excuse. And a surprising...it’s surprising.” Cas doesn’t usually like surprises. She hopes that those feelings aren’t something that she picked up from her father.

“Yeah...surprise, you’re a dad. Here’s your fully grown warrior child.”

He sighs, “There are worse things I could be called than your...father.” Her head snaps to look at him as he inspects the side of his glass, “Wow, that is a hard word to say.”

Well, in for a penny, “Would it get easier with practice?” They’re dancing around this but Cas hasn’t the slightest idea of how to be direct about it. How do you be another person’s child?

She waits for an answer that could make or break her, “Depends on whether or not we both stick around. I’m still dying.”

“For now, and I think I’ve shown I’m invested in my career choice. So, unless I transferred or something I plan on sticking around.” That’s about as much either of them can handle from that line of dialog.

It takes ninety four more minutes for the mysterious Shield people to arrive. Cas had been keeping track because it was better than pacing like a caged animal and putting them both more on edge.

“Sir, Ms. Romanoff has arrived and is requesting entrance for her and two other individuals.”

Her father gives his permission for them to approach but has them park near where Cas did the very first time she arrived here. It’s been a long time since Cassandra was in a threatening situation where she was not an authority figure but in this she needs to step back. This is going to be her father’s move and she’s just back up, so she sits quietly and listens as Jarvis guides the small group from the front door.

Her father chose to have this conversation in the living room directly above the lab. Now, she isn’t certain because she isn’t informed of all of his defenses and redundancies for his suits but there is likely a reason for this choice. She hopes that she doesn’t have to find out.

When the group comes around the corner, Cas zeroes in on the one that must be the pirate her father mentioned. The eye patch is a give away. He moves in that self assured way of someone who believes in their own power. The other man though...He is so nondescript that if she didn’t see his gun she would assume he was an accountant. Romanoff has traded in her office wear for some kind of a catsuit that lacks any and all kinds of subtlety. 

That’s the other thing, all of them are armed and Cas does not know how she feels about that.

Cas is thinking as fast as she can but she can’t decide what kind of message they’re trying to send here. If it’s intimidation then it comes up short because this is her father’s home and it is well defended. Also, they aren’t nearly as frightening as they think they are. She hopes they’re going for transparency now that they’ve been spotted.

“Mr. Stark, it’s been a long time.” And then he turns and fixes that eye on her.  _ Danger. Dangerous. _ “And you must Dr. Campeao, I’ve heard alot about you but only recently.”

“Hey Fury, so not surprised to see you. I wanted to talk to you about putting your people in my company.” She appreciates that the focus is immediately shifted from her, she doesn’t feel ready to be a part of the conversation yet.

“Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff and you already know Agent Coulson.”

“Agent,”Ah. So this is the person that manipulated Pepper. “You owe Ms. Potts an apology.”

Her father is ignored though, which is a weird thing to do in his own home.

“Are we going to be having this conversation in front of you little protege?” Little? Moderately dismissive and not worth her time to respond to.

“Protege?” His father sounds amused by it though, “Kid, how’s that sound for a job title?”

Here they go. Ready as she can be will have to be enough then. She guesses that her father isn’t planning on keeping her a secret, or maybe he’ll use her identity to keep them distracted from looking too closely. To be fair, they’ll probably find out her daughter status once Pepper gets started on the paperwork, so he just wants the pleasure of having this one thing over them. Cas can indulge him here.

“I don’t know, old man.” She lazily cracks her neck from where she’s seated, “Sounds kind of formal to me. I’ll settle for the real one.” There’s many ways that this can go but as long as they stay on track to save her father she’s fine.

“The real one, huh?” Her father seems to pick up on her openness to his intent.

“Mr. Pirate, I am here because in the event that the old man dies, I am the only one with the knowledge and capability to build and maintain Iron Man. For AirForce Colonel James Rhodes, of course.” She smiles, “We decided it was in our collective best interests for me to be here.” There, she is very smart and obnoxious too, take the hint.

“Mr. Stark, if we could get back to the matter at hand.”

“This is the matter at hand. You slipped one of your people into my life and I found them,” Actually she did, but semantics. “We made her from the day I had her transferred to be my assistant. Overplayed your hand there, Agent Romanoff.”

“You called us here to brag?”

“I called you here to find out what you want. I told you I don’t wanna join your super-secret boy band, so why did Shield come back?”

Agent Romanoff speaks up, “Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury.” Director Nicholas Fury is one hell of a name. She wonders if he changed it to fit his job better.

“Yeah. Okay, why?”

Director Fury steps forward and pulls something from his pocket. His movements are telegraphed to look non threatening. The object is maybe five inches long and looks reminiscent of an epipen but smaller. “That is lithium dioxide, something our labs cooked up to take the edge off of your condition.”

She gets up to grab and inspect the casing. She obviously can’t confirm what’s inside of it but she gets no feelings telling her to hurl it at the Director’s head. “Assuming he uses this, how long does this help him for?”

The Director looks at her again, “No more than a couple of days.”

She didn’t think this was the cure, but they wouldn’t have brought this if they didn’t have something permanent. It wouldn’t be worth the effort. The man sweeps around to come sit across from her father but Coulson and Romanoff remain standing, “That treatment is to get you back to work.”

“For you?”

“No, for you to come up with the cure.” She called it, “Doesn’t look like it’s going to be an easy fix.”

Her father rolls his eyes, “Trust me, I know. I’m good at this stuff. I’ve been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I’ve tried every combination, every permutation of every known element.” It still baffles her that her father has been working on this problem alone for at least the last six months.

“Not all of them, that thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology.” He seems so sure but Cas doesn’t understand how he could know that.

“No, it was finished. It has never been particularly effective until I miniaturized it and put it in my-”

The Director cuts her father off, “No. Your father, Howard,” What?, “said that the arc reactor was the stepping stone to something greater. He was on to something big, something so big that it was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery.” Both she and her father need a moment after that reveal. Her grandfather worked with Shield...is this man lying? It doesn’t seem like he is.

Her father recovers faster than her though, “Just him, or was Anton Vanko in on this too?” Huh?

“Who?” Oops, that was meant to stay internal.

“It’s Mr. Lightning’s father.” She nods to show she understands, apparently Mr. Lightning had a motive her father did not inform her about. Not surprising. Cas never questioned it because since when do monsters need a reason to try and kill her...she should have remembered that mortals aren’t usually like that. But busy forty eight hours. 

The Director continued, “Anton Vanko saw it as a way to get rich. When your father found out, he had him deported. When the Russians found out he couldn’t deliver they shipped his ass off to Siberia and he spent the next twenty years in a vodka-fuelled rage. Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in, the son you had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco.” She doesn’t understand...Mr. Lightning attacked her father because her grandfather had his father deported for conspiracy and treason. And that is her father’s fault? That is some convoluted revenge for a mortal. 

Her father stares at the director for a minute, “Well, then, clearly you knew my dad better than I did.”

“As a matter of fact, I did. He was one of the founding members of Shield.” Wait, what? Her grandfather helped found the creepy enhanced stalkers. Cas’s mind sticks to the fact that her grandfather is a source of one of her biggest mortal problems. It’s definitely going to be something to turn over in her head later but for now she forces it aside.

Her father has difficulty coming to terms with this new information (which is nice considering it tells her that he didn’t know) as well, if his near stuttering is meant to mean something. 

There are however more pressing issues for her to deal with at the moment, “You think Howard Stark’s research on the arc reactor could lead to a cure.”

The Director looks at her again, “I don’t think it, I know it.” But quickly returns to her father, “He believed that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started.” Cas doesn’t know much about her grandfather outside of the history books clearly but based off of her father’s face this doesn’t sound much like him.

There is one thing more she doesn’t understand though, “What do you want in return for the research?”

And finally, finally the Director seems to give her more than a passing glance, “That is a lot of cynicism for such a young girl.” Is she supposed to be cowed? Nah. The Director is testing her.

“I think it’s genetic, Mr. Pirate.” Come on, old man, she can’t give him a better opening than that.

The Director raises his one good eyebrow, “Is that so?”

“Well, she’s not wrong.” Her father is still stunned at what Cas can only call information overload but he manages.

And that’s all her father has to say for the director to look back and forth between them, “And how exactly did you stay off the radar for so long?” Awww. He’s suspicious. Good. Think she’s just a secret genius daughter.

“Don’t feel so sad about missing it, Nick. We’ll be making the announcement soon anyway. After finishing my father’s research, which I would like returned.” The words are polite but the tone is not.

“Uh huh, Agent Romanoff will remain a floater at SI until such a time that you are cured or the Iron Man name is secured under Colonel James Rhodes.” She wants to fight this but she can see the benefits of having a spy watch over these proceedings and her father must agree because he doesn’t say anything.

They leave immediately after but not before dumping a crate from the back of their SUV onto the pavement.

“That was….” She doesn’t have any words for what just occurred.

“Yep. That was….” He turns away to go inside but calls back, “Hurry up and get that inside we have work to do.” At least she hasn’t lost her status as muscled lab assistant.

As she carries the case inside, she feels confident for the first time in a few days that everything is going to be alright. Gods, she can’t believe the roller coaster that today has been and it will take time to process but she is moving forward again and that's everything.


	18. The Legacy

By the time Cas brings the crate inside her father is already holding the autoinjector in his hand, “Are you going to use it?”

He doesn’t answer her and instead brings it up to his neck faster than she can react from across the room. Jarvis agrees with her on this decision if the sharp “Sir!” is anything to go off of but it’s too late and the little machine has already delivered it’s payload into his system.

She waits for...some sort of positive or negative reaction she assumes but other than a sharp noise at the pain nothing happens. Her father just tosses the thing away and signals her to put the crate on the floor.

“A warning would have been nice.”

“What? Were you going to stop me?” Really? After all of this is that what he thinks of her?

“I wasn’t planning on it but I did want to suggest that Jarvis scan it or something first to see if it was safe. It felt safe when I picked it up but it’s nice to check.”

“I’ll keep that in mind the next time I’m in need of experimental emergency medical interventions.” She has nothing to say to that because when she thinks about it, that’s what the arc reactor is. Instead she turns her attention to the crate and pops it open.

Cas is going to have a migraine at the end of this because, “This is all really very retro.” She even sees a few wheels of film in the case next to some notebooks that are handwritten...it’s going to take her forever to read one of these. Her dyslexia is pretty well managed and only an issue in the day to day after thirty six hours without sleep. Typically, she tries to avoid hitting twenty four but needs must sometimes. 

The problem is that what she reads is usually printed or her own handwriting and more recently a digital display that she could translate to Greek if she really had to push her boundaries. Her grandfather had some relatively neat penmanship for a scientist but it’s so crammed and she’s tired.

“I’m going to have to stay on film duty,” she randomly selects one that catches her eye, “Because I can’t trust myself to read any of this correctly right now.” It’s embarrassing that she can’t help as much as she wants to but maybe she can still catch something.

“Selective dyslexia for the old man’s chicken scratch?” She nods. “I’m sure you’ll be great moral support.” The glare she shoots him has no real intent behind since she’s relieved that he doesn’t seem bothered.

Instead she sets up the projector and screen with the film she’s selected while her father starts on the notebooks. As she sits down to observe, she realizes that the one she selected is the intro from the Stark Expo in the seventies. It’s not the final cut if the constant restarts are anything to go by. She considers that this may be a waste of time but she wants to observe this back stage version of her grandfather, the one who secretly helped found Shield.

“Everything is achievable through technology.” That’s a line that she can believe in.

The tiny version of her father that appears on the screen to disrupt his father’s work is something that brings a small smile to face but she stays quiet. Her father isn’t the sentimental type and neither is she, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t for the first time in her life wish that she could have been that child invading her father’s office. Everything would have been so different but she wouldn’t be who she is now and that isn’t something she is willing to change. It’s just something to think about.

Then the scene changes, “Tony.” She sits up because the way he’s facing the camera is too focused, “You’re too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you.” A message from a dead man to her father from the past, “I built this for you. And someday you’ll realise that it represents a whole lot more than just people’s inventions.” 

The shot pans across the Expo model but then gives focused shots of the globe, pavilion, and the mark 1 arc reactor prototype. “It represents my life’s work. This is the key to the future. I’m limited by the technology of my time, but one day you’ll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation is you.” She doesn’t have anything to say to that and she feels like she just invaded a very private moment.

“I think...hmmmm,” she needs to approach this carefully, “I think that we need that model.” She wants a closer look at where the camera panned around.

“Yeah, get in the car,” She ignores the strain in his voice, “I’ll be right there.”

~~~

The car ride is silent and because of how late it is by now it’s fairly dark and she’s exhausted by the day's events. So, Cas really can’t be blamed when she knocks out on the car ride over. The convertible coupe she had jumped into is surprisingly roomie for a car of its size and comfortable. Also, she wanted to give her father time to think without her being in the way given she’s still afraid to leave him alone in his condition.

As per the usual for the past couple of days, she gets to wake up to her father being yelled at by Pepper over the phone and she doesn’t understand why. They haven’t even done anything since she last saw them that Pepper didn’t know about...except they forgot to call her after the Shield Entourage left. Oops.

“Ms. Potts, don’t be mad we were busy. We would have called eventually.” Half asleep and groggy she reverts to Ms. Potts instead of Pepper but maybe being polite will earn her some brownie points.

“Oh see, you woke the kid. Good job.” It’s not like she wasn’t going to need to wake up anyway. Her bike is still at SI and she isn’t going to leave it there.

_ “Don’t change the subject, Tony. Why are you allowing Agent Romanoff to stay at SI?” _

Ah.

Right.

Cas didn’t really think about how the others would respond to the superspy sticking around for the time being. Truthfully, she’s not too worried about it since Romanoff is looking at exactly what she wants her to look at, which is Iron Man and not Cassandra, the demigod. If Cas looked too eager for her to be gone she may draw undue attention and she can’t have that.

“It’s temporary, Pep. Keep to business as usual. She’ll be gone before you know it.” Gods, Cas hopes so. She can be cordial but she does not want Romanoff too close. “This isn’t even important. We found a thread in the crate Shield left behind to pull on. Looks like Cassie may have been right.” He glances at her, “Don’t look smug, kid.” Well, she should be, “No one likes a showoff.”

“That sentence should never come out of your mouth again, old man.” 

He feigns offense, “I am the-”

Pepper cuts him off,  _ “Tony, are you sure?”  _ She sounds heartbreakingly hopeful about this and Cas applauds because she’s hopeful too, and she knows they’re headed in the correct direction but there’s still a time crunch.

“Nope, be in touch.” And then he hangs up the phone. At least he was honest.

“I’m not going to protect you when she comes after you for that.”

He has the nerve to make an offended noise, “What’s the use of having an unusually powerful young woman for a daughter if she won’t defend you from attackers?”

She smiles at the ease with which he says daughter and thinks they’ll be alright when they get through this, “A pointless battle, I could never win against Pepper. She’s too awesome.”

“You think so?” He sounds weirdly curious.

“Well, yeah. She’s been so helpful and amazing since I met her. I don’t think she’s ever been afraid of me once.” From the first day they met, Pepper has been welcoming and kind.

“Kid, a wet kitten is scarier that you.” Ha. Guess she has him fooled.

Though, it’s not like she ever wanted him to be afraid of her. Cas has actually gone out of her way to alway be non threatening since day one and it shows if no one has any concerns about her.

“You’re already forgetting that I tail whipped a man with a Rolls Royce in Monaco.” That wasn’t her best moment...she still feels kind of bad for that but she was lacking options at the time.

“Good point. Where did you learn to do that anyway?”

“I used to sneak out of camp with a friend of mine when we were learning how to drive to do donuts and other tricks in parking lots. We thought they’d be useful and they were since you’re alive.” Charlie nearly made them puke one night with all of the spinning.

He laughs, “I was starting to worry that you were too innocent to be my kid.” She may have done too good of a job looking harmless. “Good to know you snuck out sometimes.” She snuck out a lot.

The Hermes cabin was crowded back then, some space was needed.

The rest of the drive passes in a peace that Cas chooses not to disturb. When they arrive at SI, much to the confusion of the night security staff, they are quick to head up to Pepper’s office. The hallways are empty in a weird way since no one works this late on the executive floors. The model itself is an annoyingly cumbersome and large thing to manipulate into an elevator but she can’t stop snickering. Cas feels like she’s stealing the ping pong table from the big house or something equally dumb.

Her father just passes judgement with a look but she doesn’t care. She needs some levity after the week she’s had so she’ll take it where she can get it. When they reach the lobby she leaves him to get the model into his car alone and heads over to get her bike and drive herself. The drive back to the mansion is uneventful as well except for the weird sight of the four parts of the expo model strapped into the passenger seat. Well, it’s not like her father has larger cars so she can’t be called out for picking one without storage.

~~~

“Jarvis, could you kindly Vac-U-Form a digital wire frame? I need a manipulable projection.” When Jarvis finishes scanning the model her father lifts it to examine it while Cas circles it.

“There’s an answer right here, I can feel it.”  _ Look closer. Pay attention. Focus. _ The video her grandfather shot focused on some of the buildings in particular so maybe she needs to look at their general positioning. It doesn’t help that she doesn’t know what she is looking for. Fury suggested something new but she isn’t certain if it’s for the core or the arc reactor structure. Also, how could her grandfather have done any of this in the 1970s?

Actually, she takes that back in many ways her father is decades ahead of the rest of the world and she’s being brought up to speed too, they had to get it from somewhere.

Her father seems to have found a line of thought to follow, “ How many buildings are there?” 

“Am I to include the Beligan Waffle stands?” She smiles. Gods, at the end of the day everyone needs a Jarvis.

“That was rhetorical. Show me.” As the hologram is modified by Jarvis and reorients itself to face her and her father, she sees it. It shouldn’t be possible. There should be no way a man from the 1970s could have come up with something like this using the available science. This is a new feeling for Cas, who has spent most of her life being the biggest and fastest brain in the room. Right now she feels so incredibly young. 

By the gods. It’s like an atom.

“Yep. Not unlike an atom.” She may have said that second part out loud.

“What is it you’re trying to achieve, sir?” She didn’t know that Jarvis could sound confused but here they are.

“We-”

Cas cuts him of f, “No, this is you. I’m second or even third name on this paper.” Gods, she never would have seen this and she can admit that honestly because it doesn’t sting with her father and grandfather knowing more than her here.

“Well then, I’m discovering… Correction. I’m rediscovering a new element, I believe.”

“When we’re done here I want to pick through his research because this should be impossible.” She knows that the ‘what’ is more important right now than the ‘how’ as far as her grandfather’s discovery goes but how did he get here?

As her father starts taking out the unnecessary details like the shrubbery, she flicks away the foot paths and the entrances. “That’s later, Cas.” She knows and instead focuses on the image that is more and more resembling an unknown atom. “Jarvis, structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework.”

And there it is, it’s beautiful and completely new. And it was her family that found it. 

The glow from the holograms lights up the room around them leaving Cas speechless but this is it this is their answer and cure to save her father.

Her father is just as amazed, “Dad. Dead for almost 20 years, and still taking me to school.”

“The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium.” She already knew that but having Jarvis confirm it makes her laugh. “Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize.” Cas isn’t worried about that part. They have their answer and now they just need to grab it.

“Get ready for a major remodel, fellas. We’re back in hardware mode.” And father knows it too. It’s just a matter of time now.

They’ve got this.

She’s a child of victory and she doesn’t lose.

~~~

She’s so glad that she took that power nap on the way over to SI. This is going to be an all night project and she feels bad for the moving guys that got woken up by a very persistent Jarvis to bring some crates from an SI storage site to the mansion. Well, not that bad, they’re being paid 300% their normal rate.

Cas has spent the past hour and a half moving storage crates and clearing furniture and all of the other useless space eating junk in the way of their work. Her father is helping too but...well only one of them is a demigod and there is no reason to risk a resurgence of symptoms by using the suit when she’s right there.

So, while he’s using a jackhammer on the ceiling to access cables and put a hole through the floor to the lab, she is taking a sledgehammer to the walls. Not the whole wall, they need some holes for the modified accelerator they’re building. Cas has never built one of these before but she is well aware of the science and the concepts, everything else she wants to know Jarvis is reading to her because she is doing the manual labor. 

This is one hell of a birthday bash for her father...although it may be after midnight now. She stopped acknowledging time a while back.

Bolting the coils into place is a bit of a tedious job but her father starts at one end and she works around the other. After the previous months of their occasional team ups they work together fairly organically. It’s the perfect father daughter day...ha. Only them.

“Kid, come here.” She’s busy, “Step up. I need you to lift this coil.” Seriously… “Hurry up, it's not level and I’ve got just the thing.” 

Cas sighs with maybe a bit more drama than is warranted but it’s I-don’t-give-a-shit o’clock and she wants to finish. Instead she tosses her wrench to the ground and moves lift the stupid uncooperative coil for her father.

“What is that?” It’s a weird looking circular piece of flotsam and she’s curious as to what it’s doing with all of these useful things.

“It’s exactly what we need to make this work,” He says as he crams it under the coil and of course into her hand first. Ow. She glares at him but he ignores her. “Okay, drop it.” She eagerly steps away and returns to her side of the room. “Perfectly level.”

“You must be so proud.”

“Hey, none of that missy.”

“You want me to stop then get more coffee.” Gods, when this works and her father’s cured then she’s hiding in Camp Half-Blood for a week.

The night continues in much the same way.

When they’re finished her father is loading the prism into the chamber and she is checking over the casing and the sample they’re using to make her grandfather’s element. She’s going to need a better name for that. It’s her father’s technically since he’s inherited it from his father so she hopes he picks a good one.

“Cas, get over here and get on the wheel.” He tosses her some goggles as she neatly jumps their brand new prismatic accelerator. Her father finishes turning on their new toy and Jarvis handles the details.

“Initializing prismatic accelerator.” Here they go. Cas sends a quick prayer to her mother.

As she’s attempting to turn the wheel and line up the plasma laser she remembers her early driving lessons. If the power steering goes out, the driver must prepare to grip the wheel tighter and use much more force than before to guide the car to the edge of the road. This is like that. When they put the wheel on before it spun into place like a dream.

This is a bit more difficult and she could use some more fine control.

“Leverage please.” Her father nearly scrambles to put the wrench in her hand and she’s still adjusting herself as Jarvis warns that they are approaching maximum power.

Well, she can tell because the laser impacts the wall below a fuse box about twenty degrees off of her target. 

Oops. Her father’s still a billionaire so it’s not like they can’t get it fixed.

The goggles she’s wearing protect her eyes from the glow fairly well but the ringing as the laser impacts the sample is stabbing in her ear. It hurts but she holds it steady so the reaction can take place.

After ten seconds her father shuts the accelerator down and she releases the wrench. That ear splitting noise is gone, thank the gods, but the glow...the glow from the sample is luminous. She notes her father’s, “That was easy.” and moves to inspect this new thing in front of her. There is something so familiar about it and she can’t put her finger on it. 

“Congratulations,” Yeah, that’s one response, “You have created a new element.” Gods, Cas is beyond amazed staring at the glowing triangle her father has suspended in front of him.

As he places it into the new arc reactor, she holds her breath. Cas knows, she knows it will work but it’s still nerve wracking as she awaits Jarvis’s analysis. “Sir, the reactor has accepted the modified core. I will begin running diagnostics.”

She doesn’t bother to hold back her cheer or stop herself from jumping three feet in the air. They did it. It actually worked.

Cassandra has every plan to locate the nearest level empty surface and knock out for the foreseeable future, but she doesn’t get the chance to do that because her phone starts ringing.

It’s Chiron and she’s trying to figure out what he could possibly need from her at this moment that could justify interrupting what under normal circumstances would be sleep time. He can’t know she’s awake at...it is 4:42 AM. So it’s early for them.

“Hey, Chiron, is this important? Becau-”

“Cassandra, I need you back at camp as soon as possible.” What? He sounds nervous.

What new fire does she have to deal with now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for the next chapter guys. It delves into what's going to be my version of the Trials of Apollo. Which will in no way be canon because in this house we like our blonde glasses wearing superman (<3 for Jason). 
> 
> I will not be killing him. Grrrr. Fight me.
> 
> Cas will not be running around with an acne riddled Apollo fighting Roman emperors. In fact, if she could I bet she'd go "Romans clean up your mess!!!" Rather than get her people involved. What we will be delving into is Cas's preference for physical action as a last resort when possible. She'd rather talk people down then punch someone.
> 
> That's not to say she won't.....the race track for instance but we can all agree she went "That is my squishy father about to be murdered." Cas loves her negotiations and debates which she will get into on her own on demigod ventures not Avengers ones. (BTW for anyone curious I have no intention for Cas to become a main lineup Avenger)


	19. The Complication

Her father notices her change in countenance but she waves him off, “What happened?” Things were just starting to calm down but if the Greeks needed her…

“Rachel is missing and some of the campers are blaming the visiting Romans.” She stiffens. Oh no.

No, no, no. Not only is Rachel their Oracle but she is their squishy mortal whimsical Oracle that they were entrusted with and that the Roman’s had derided as being lesser than the auguries in the past.

Six months. They have had open peace between the camps for six months and things have been moving along swimmingly. Sure, there has been side eyeing and grumbling from some parties but for the most part everyone is game to make this work. She hasn’t had to step in at all with her seniority status among the active greek demigods.

Does Cas think that the Roman’s have stolen the Oracle? No, she does not but some might. This could set the whole framework of what she’s been working towards on fire because if another conflict breaks out between the camps there is no way that Cas will be able to bring the demigods out of hiding.

But who would take an Oracle? And how did they get her? Rachel doesn’t spend all of her time in camp. She’s far too twitchy for that but it’s nearly the winter solstice, she would have been nearby. In her family’s beach house maybe?

“Do you have a time frame for when she went missing?” Gods, this is a mess that she does not need right now. It is the fate of demigods to jump from one issue to the next until they hit a becalmed period that has them forgetting how stressful the action was but she’s really craving some dull moments right about now. 

Cas feels guilty for the moment of envy she feels towards Percy, Annabeth, and all of the other demigods that are focusing on college and themselves instead of the population as a whole right now. She feels guilty, she does, but regardless of how much this sucks she volunteered. Cas could have let others take part in the negotiations months ago but she knew she could do it best so she did.

And now she’s about to dive right into more Greek business after helping to redefine a multitude of scientific fields.

That’s demigod life for her…

“She was meant to be at camp at 6:30 this morning as part of the solstice preparations but when she was more than twenty minutes we late we called her and got no response. I sent a group to her house immediately after but it doesn’t look like she arrived home last night. She left camp yesterday at around nine o’clock.” That’s an almost ten our window to grab her. Shit.

“Shit.” She pinches the skin between her eyes, “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Do you think you can keep hostilities off of our holiday season visitors?” It’s nearly Saturnalia for the Romans and the ones in New York currently wanted to share their modern traditions. It’s a very sweet gesture if very PG compared to what the OG Romans did.

Cas can feel her father’s eyes on her and she just realized that she is going to have to ditch him for this and ask to borrow his jet because how else is she going to get there in a reasonable time frame. “Thank you, Cassandra. I’ll be expecting you.” She hangs up the phone.

“I’m sorry.” Is this how kids feel asking to borrow the family car?

He just sighs. Her father is clearly exhausted even if he looks like a tremendous weight has been lifted off of his shoulders. “What is it?”

“I’m sorry, it’s Greek business that I can’t go into detail on but I need to get to New York.” Gods, she’s just going to go for it, “I need to borrow your jet.” He’s going to hold this over her head for a while.

“Right now?”

“It really is an emergency. I wouldn’t ask you to do this otherwise. If you want details I will happily provide them during the flight.”  _ Please, accept the offering from me to you. _

“Level of emergency?” That is not a no. Promising.

“I’d rate it as DEFCON four currently but it won’t stay that way. They need me to get this under control as soon as possible. I can’t let this turn ugly.” There, he knows it’s not strictly a violence thing, she may not even end up in danger. 

“Get out of here,” What? “Head to the airport, I’ll send the information to your device.”

She doesn’t think about it. Cas hugs her father and bolts tossing a loud thank you over her shoulder.

~~~

Cas is always amazed at her body’s ability to keep going. She’s been working all night but she will be catching a few hours during the flight, for now she will ride the hell out of this adrenaline rush. The airstrip her father sends her towards is about forty five minutes away normally, she makes it in thirty.

She isn’t sure how her father already has the crew getting her fueled and ready to go, but she’s grateful as she jumps off her bike and walks up the stairs. There’s even a pilot. She assumes this is a money talks moment and leaves it at that. These guys are likely getting a fat bonus for working for her father like this.

Her leg does not stop bouncing as she waits for all of the preflight checks to be completed and for the tower to ping them as cleared to take off. The second part is short due to what she is guessing is the Stark label on the jet. Cas takes another moment to be grateful for the power of wealth. Sitting there she gives her father the cliff notes version of what an Oracle is in demigod terms.

No, Rachel does not see the future. She is the mouthpiece through which words about potential futures are channeled in vague and godly terms.

No, calling the cops is no good because the main suspects are the Romans and if it was a mortal that grabbed her she would have felt it coming days ago.

Yes, tensions are high between the Greek and Roman camps but it’s better than it used to be. (She does not bring up the demigod impact on the Civil War.)

She spends maybe an hour explaining this, as well as the fact that Iron Man will not be helpful in any way and he should wait for Jarvis to give his new arc reactor the all clear. 

And then she very politely tells her father to leave her alone because she needs some sleep.

~~~

There’s an Audi waiting for her at the airport, no driver, just the keys. She’s going to need to write her father an entire letter to fully encapsulate the thank you she has for him. Cas rockets off the tarmac and heads towards Long Island after letting her father know she’s landed (he already knows but it's a courtesy) and telling Chiron she’s almost there.

Seven hours for her to get from Malibu to Long Island is very impressive and she considers sending Jarvis a message asking if there’s a record for that. Then she tells her sleep deprived brain to shut up because it’s not relevant. She can figure out how she compares in the leaderboards for rapid travel later.

In the very impressive beast of a car that her father provided her with she’s at camp by three o’clock local time by merit of disregarding traffic laws.

The atmosphere of the camp is tense when she arrives at the Big House. There is no greeting party for her this time and she can’t believe that it’s only been a couple of days since she was last here. This week is comparable to the pre-Tartarus portion of the Argo II trip when it comes to stress levels.

Mr. D is nowhere in sight but this isn’t something that she would expect him to get involved in anyway so she’s not offended. Instead, she arrives at the meeting room to see the Head Cabin Counselors on one side of the room and several Romans on the other. She doesn’t see any weapons drawn but the intent is there. Chiron is waiting outside, it’s his duty to train the Greek demigods and help them learn but he cannot interfere with their decision making.

Well, that’s why she’s here. 

“Friends! Romans!” She’s been waiting her whole life to use that line. “I hope no one has any plans to do anything stupid.” It’s exhausting and she doesn’t want to be the person doing this. Most other demigods that make it to her age journey off on their own to take a crack at living the mortal lifestyle, basically they retire until something catches up with them. Cas reminds herself again that she volunteered for this when she accepted her appointment to Strategos years ago. The job amounts to long term planner and strategist but she may have expanded her duties in recent months to include negotiator. She could have turned it down or passed it on at any point.

There’s a couple of relieved exclamations of her name but she doesn’t slow down, “It’s been a while. Did you miss me?”

“Cassie,” Oh look it’s Katie, “We appreciate you coming but this is meant to be the twelve head counselors investigating here.” Code: You had your time to shine let the bigger higher tier demigods handle it. She gets it but...

Ha. 

No, not after all of the work she put into this peace. She did not cross the country in a handful of hours to be told to wait outside. Not with this being her goal on the line.

“Oh, I just wanted to ask the Romans directly if they did it.” She turns towards them, “Did you? Did you touch our Oracle?”

The unknown Roman is indignant, “No Gaecus,” Rude. Accurate, but rude. “We didn’t touch your Oracle. We have the auguries already so we don’t need to wait for a mortal to spit out prophecies.” Well then. Romans do not respond well to suspicion. Good to know. Seems she’s always caught them on good days before now.

“Cool,” She turns back to the Greek side of the debate “I believe them, but has anyone contacted Reyna and Frank yet. I’m aware of the time difference,” She’s dragging it behind her currently, “But they’re probably up by now.”

The resounding silence tells her that no one has called the Roman authorities yet...she’s not surprised. It’s winter so right now there’s mostly younger Greek demigods with nowhere (relatively) safe to live as opposed to summer where they have a full house. Clarisse flew out to Arizona the day after Cas saw her last because she’s starting to dorm after the winter break and she wants to spend time with her mother. That means that most of these Head Counselors are sixteen or less. Katie, Piper, and her Stoll twins being the exceptions. 

Piper’s reasonable but her voice is often silenced if Jason isn’t around because of her charmspeak.

The Stoll twins are brilliant but it’s literally in their nature to incense things. Their dad is a trickster god.

And Katie, she’s a mom friend through and through with the Greeks as her kids that can do no wrong.

Cas has a headache throbbing behind her left eye at this point.

It’s exhausting but she can and will guide these wayward teenagers away from pushing her hard won peace off of a cliff due to libral application of ‘jumping to conclusions.’ Especially the little Apollo sunshine boy, she gets it. His dad made the Oracle, but take a breath you fifteen year old. She wishes Will and Nico were here, Sunshine and Skull Child can really calm a room with their adorableness.

As she pulls her phone from her pocket shaking her head at the stupidity which caused her panicked flight across the country and she sends up a small prayer that Rachel is in fact okay wherever she is right now. She’s a nice girl and no one should have to go through or deal with any of this. 

Reyna, she is pleased to note, answers on the first ring, “You had better be calling to tell me you’re sorry and you’re sending a Greek to return the books.” What? Cas is not pleased by either her words or her tone.

“Don’t know about any books...but do you know anything about our Oracle? Spunky. Artistic. Ginger.” This whole situation doesn’t sound good and whatever it is…. _Keep back. Not yours. Distraction._ She has no intention of being the one to deal with it. She has her own quest but she can make sure that the Greeks and Romans don’t tear themselves apart.

Cas puts her phone on speaker and tosses it on the ping pong table in the middle of the room, “You’re on speaker, Chica, please tell the Head Counselors and your people what happened on your end.”

“Di immortales,” Yep, Cas feels that, “I can assure you that New Rome and Camp Jupiter are not the cause of your missing Oracle. This morning we discovered that the recently transcribed Sibylline Books from Ella the Harpy’s memory have gone missing. Tyson has spent all morning trying to calm her down but we can’t get a straight story out of her.” Oh yeah, this is a biggie. 

Cas is listening to her instincts though and staying out of it. She is more than willing to put out the initial fire here but hunting missing prophecies is not something that she is willing to touch. Good news is that Rachel being taken is definitely a demigod thing though, so this wasn’t entirely a waste of time. 

Gods, she deserves to be stabbed for that thought but she’s tired.

There’s talking, posturing, and promises of cooperation but no direct apologies for the accusations from either side. She’s not surprised and she would have been offended if the Greeks offered any. The loss of an Oracle is a good reason to get some feathers ruffled but no one was harmed so apologies are unnecessary. Cas just wishes that they thought it through first but it’s too late now and she’s here.

Maybe she should see about Chiron teaching some more kids about diplomacy instead of just debate….

As this is occurring Cas is thinking about the larger implications of this situation. Two separate sources of prophecy have been taken within the same time frame. What possible reason could there be to steal potential futures? 

That’s a stupid question...she really needs sleep.

Control over prophecy means control over the availability of legitimate quests on both demigod fronts. And in a more abstract way, control over the future like when the Spartan elders compromised the Oracle providing Leonidas with false prophecy….not that it stopped him from fighting. The point is that an unknown party having control over prophecy really puts a damper on everything since their moves could be compromised. Also, Rachel is person who should not be stolen.

When the call ends after an hour, Cas takes her phone and leaves with a jaunty wave. She is going to go faceplant in her bunk for a while. Before she passes out she has enough brain power to send her father an all clear and ask someone to send her the info on Rachel's beach house but then she’s in Morpheus’s hands.


	20. The Expo

Cas sleeps until one o’clock the next day, a very long siesta but it was a long time coming. She rummages through the cabin to scrounge up some clean clothing. It’s all old and some doesn’t quite fit her right in some places but it will do until she can get back to California. If she remembers right, and she always does, Pepper is due at the Expo that night so she can get back with her.

The investigation into Rachel’s beach house turned up absolutely nothing. So she wasn’t taken from there or she recognized who took her (please gods no, no more traitors) or she had very considerate kidnappers who cleaned up after themselves. Cas is in favor of option one but there’s no proof. Without an Oracle to spout prophecies the camp is kind of stuck waiting for a starting point. She’d help but….this one isn’t for her to deal with. 

Realistically, one of the sunshine campers over in Apollo’s cabin will have way better odds given that they can pray to their father on what to do. He should answer if they all ask since he bent over backwards for Octavius. (Psycho….)

She drags her groggy jet lagged self to the dining pavilion and honest to gods stuffs her face with everything she can get her hands on. She’s halfway through her third coffee when someone plops themselves down and takes a chicken nugget from her plate. Cas considers slapping the hand but that would mean making an effort.

“You are not looking super sexy today, Cassie.” Piper may not be the girliest but she’s still a child of Aphrodite and will call people out.

She rolls her head to take in the interloper, “And you, as always, are the hottest hot mess in the camp.”

Piper just grins irreverently as Cas prays the caffeine begins working soon, “You really saved us yesterday. No one listens to the charmspeaking child of Aphrodite during peace talks. Especially since I still use katoptris.” Ah, yes. While Piper is the child of a major goddess, her siblings aren’t known for being the greatest heroes. Silena just being the latest child of Aphrodite to add to the conflict instead of helping like their sister, Helen of Troy. Ironically, she’s the former owner of Piper’s cursed dagger too. So no, like the children of minor gods like Cas, Piper has to work harder for recognition as a hero despite having great potential like all of the others. At least Cas is tied to victory, no one cares to drag a pretty liability behind them.

Piper is in no way a liability and Cas will always choose to have her on her team given the option.

“One day, they’ll remember that you literally put Gaea to sleep with your words and saved the world without anyone holding your hand.”

She laughs, “Maybe, but I’d rather be remembered as the Pulitzer winning demigod.”

That brings a smile to her face, “You aim high.” It’ll be ironic with the dyslexia but Piper can do it.

“Like you don’t?”

Ha.

“Point to Piper,” she sighs, “Everything looks pretty relaxed compared to yesterday, but how was last night and this morning. Any fights?”

Cas will be surprised if nothing happened especially with the youthful Apollo cabin being hit with the worst of the offense. The kids are smart but demigods are dangerously proud until they survive being knocked down a peg or two and, for the most part, the goal is to keep the younger generation away from the worst of the violence. Percy being a notable exception. 

Yes, it’s a brilliant idea and totally not overkill to hurl a Minotaur at an untrained fourteen year old. Any other demigod would have been killed in that scenario. Cas at fourteen and trained would have had trouble fighting the Minotaur. Children in the Big Three are scary, and that’s why the various times she sparred with Percy or Thalia have involved a lot of quick thinking, dodging and glancing blows. She can win if she doesn’t take a hit, but if they do hit. Goodnight. 

Piper thinks it over, “The Apollo kids were maybe a bit more aggressive this morning during some of the training sessions but there was trash talking on both sides. It seemed to be more fighting over Oracle vs Auguries though, not blame over Rachel.” Thank the gods. “But some Roman armor ended up floating on a mattress in the middle of the lake this morning.”

She wants to smile but, “That’s hilarious but the twins can’t let their cabinmates start any problems.”

“They didn’t.” Huh. “By lunch time there were five Hermes campers with purple hair.” Unique but effective. “I need to ask for your help with something.”

Cas thunks her head to the table and groans.

No. She’s had a week. She wants to be lazy and hide from work for a few days. A whole week. That’s what she promised herself.

“It’s nothing horrible or questy, I promise.” She groans again, “They’re doing another three-legged race into the Labyrinth. You’re fast and badass. So, can you help monitor in case someone misses a checkpoint or gets injured? It’s at six tonight so you can laze around all day, I just need you after dinner.”

Cas groans her answer into the table.

“Thanks, Cassie.” She’s never going to say no if it’s for the camp.

~~~

Not all of the cabins send a team up to Zeus’s fist to participate but it’s a near thing. Cas takes her seat next to Chiron and tries not to snicker at the stumbling campers practicing their running with their partner. She prefers capture the flag nights but this one is always fun to watch. (Cas continued the tradition of Nike siding with Athena after she got her own cabin.) 

And yikes. 

The Romans have no practice at this but they are going at it with the typical imperial discipline. So serious.

Chiron steps forward to speak, “We have hidden three blessed arrows that will alway find their mark within the Labyrinth,” That is a solid prize and back in the day she may have grabbed Luke and gone full tilt after it, “You have an hour to find one or more and come back.” 

Cas watches curiously as Lou Ellen, head counselor to Hecate’s cabin hands...a compass(?) over to her participants. Oh, that’s clever magic probably to lead her team straight to an arrow and back. Useful, the only other person who could manage something like that is maybe Hazel, Cas couldn’t do that.

She watches calmly as the teams head down into the Labyrinth looking to win their magic arrows and sets a timer on her phone planning to head down at an hour. Cas isn’t at all surprised when the Hecate/Tyche teamup (and that’s almost as unfair as Athena/Nike, Magic and Luck on one team?) come back first at twenty eight minutes only a little scratched up clutching an arrow and the compass between them.

She claps and cheers for them until her phone starts ringing...something she acknowledges with dread because her last phone call sent her careening across the continent.

Cas picks it up anyway, “Go for Cas.”

“Cassie! I need you!” What?

“Dad?” Is he flying right now?

“Vanko is at the Expo and he’s working with Justin Hammer, I can’t get anyone on the line right now.” How is any of this happening? “Pepper and Happy and I think Romanoff are there.” Shit, Mr. Lightning and Justin Hammer. 

“Why do people hate you so much?” It’s not relevant but it’s what comes out of her mouth.

“Kid, I’ve been asking myself that for decades. But I need you to work some magic to get to the Expo and get them evacuating.” Work some magic? Her eyes flick to the compass. “Rhodey and I are too far out from the Expo and Hammer will be taking the stage at seven with whatever Vanko gave him.”

Gods, this week is just the worst. She checks the time, it’s little before 6:30...great.

Cas flips through her brain for how she can get to Flushing from camp fast enough to be of help to her father and really she only settles on one option because even breaking all of the speed limits it would take almost two hours....she’s going to need to grab that child of Hecate.

Wonderful.

Cas is going to have to use the labyrinth and pray that the gods give her an exit where she needs it.

She has….opinions on the labyrinth and her ability to manipulate the Mist is..negligible. But she can survive it now that Pasiphae, mother of the Minotaur, is very dead...again. Go Hazel. Cas would give up her bike if it meant she could have Hazel here right now, she’s strong enough to bend the labyrinth where she needs it go. The labyrinth though is as safe as it can be and a frequent training environment for controlled exposures to monsters for campers nowadays. Evidenced by the race that just took place today.

She locks onto the happy magic child in front of her.

“I’ll get there as soon as I can.” She hates the labyrinth on principle but not enough to let some mortals die over it. Cas hangs up on her father and runs to ruin the cheering.

Cas likes Lou Ellen but she doesn’t have a whole lot of time which is becoming typical of her life now. So she runs into the group celebrating their victory and starts shouting at the top of her lungs that she needs Lou or some other magic adept to navigate the Labyrinth to lead her to the Expo grounds in Queens.

It gets her a lot of wide eyes but she gets her point across when she says an angry Russian man that hates her family is probably going to kill a lot of people there and she needs to get the word out. Cas has no shortage of volunteers after that. Thank the gods for small mercies, but she just needs a guidepost. She's not leading a bunch of winter campers into a fight against a crazy Russian. She’s going to get Pepper and Happy who have elected to ignore her father right now...they most likely have a good reason.

Also, there are apparently some older demigods who ran off to the Expo for the day. Good for them, it’s poor timing but good for them. Cas gives some kids a mission to do a roll call around camp and contact anyone who might be there to come home so they don’t feel left out. She appreciates the offers for assistance but celestial bronze is no good against mortals and probably wouldn’t hold up against arc reactor powered plasma lightning. Lastly, this really doesn’t feel like the time for them to come forward as kick ass children. It may send the wrong message.

Tony Stark employs a magical child army...yeah that’s no good.

Lou hands her the compass...Cas trusts her fellow demigods. She does. But magic is... _ magic. _ And even though she just saw it work... Lou Ellen promises that the compass will get her through the labyrinth to where she wants to go now that there aren’t any outside sorcerers poking at it. (That they know of…) It’s just the masterpiece that Daedalus built so it's a conniving and mischievous home for monsters instead of a demigod killing pit.

Helpful Lou. She feels very reassured.

Lou Ellen cannot promise how long it will take her as she has been working on the compass for the sake of traversing the labyrinth without getting turned around, not time trials. They got lucky this time because during testing they ended up down there for two weeks.

Wonderful. She’s not taking the Tyche kid with her.

It could be a five minute run or it could be six hours but it’s the best chance she has to get to the Stark Expo in time to help her father. She’s been doing that a whole lot recently.

Cas sends a prayer to her mother for a swift and decisive victory over the labyrinth and dives into the hole. 

~~~

The moment that Cas’s feet touch the ground she realizes that she loves her father. It’s a random and unexpected thought to have but she thinks it. She thinks it because the instant her father told her that he needed her to get to the Expo as quickly as possible she had already decided that she was going to climb into this evil place. 

That’s not fair.

The labyrinth isn’t actually evil despite what Clarisse will yell at her once she hears about Cas’s latest stunt in pursuit of victory. (Clar still has opinions on the labyrinth) It’s just chock full of evil things that would love to murder Cassandra and leave her body abandoned in the dark. Last year she might’ve been afraid to come back down here alone after her Atlanta debacle but post Tartarus Cassandra is not all that intimidated...she needs to talk to Chiron about that. Her personal self-preservation instincts have been in question for years but that’s a bit far.

The others come down here all of the time but solo labyrinth trips are very frowned upon.

These are all thoughts Cas has as she uses her signalless phone (no calls in the labyrinth, even from a Stark device) as a flashlight while she sprints in the direction of what she prays is Queens. She hears things as she pours on the speed relying on her instincts to guide her feet across the sometimes uneven and sometimes brand new floors. 

The changing facades that mark the ages of the hallways unnerve her as much as they did the first time she came down here but she feels no fear as she continues sprinting. There are growls and scrapes of claws or metal in her periphery but she disregards them, unless something wanders directly into her path Cas will keep moving. 

Three dracaenae had no idea what hit them when they accidentally emerged from a hall as she passed, Cas can’t quite dodge the dust and ends up covered in monster grime.

When the compass veers off to the side suddenly she course corrects down a bleak concrete hallway that ends in a utilitarian door.

Gods, please let this be the end. 

She doesn’t slow as she bursts through the door and into a parking garage...she has no idea where she is. The door slams behind her but she shoves the compass in her pocket and sprints to the edge of the platform hoping to all the gods that are listening that she will see a useful landmark from there.

And there in all of it’s ostentatious glory is the Unisphere surrounded by its fountains. She laughs. Cas now owes a favor to a child of Hecate but she made it in... she checks her phone 6:50. Ten minutes is not a lot of time but Justin Hammer is sort of a big deal right? Her father would probably laugh if she said that out loud. So, he must be at the main pavilion.

As she takes off down a stairwell she tries to think about what she needs next...she needs to find someone who can help her that will listen…

Happy, she needs Happy. 

Happy will be easy to find because he’ll be near the car near the pavilion assuming Pepper is nearby as CEO of SI. She would have to be there because Hammer Industries is the competition and would warrant her personal attendance. So, Happy must be near the pavilion.

This is the most she’s sprinted since she was last in battle and it’s invigorating for her but she is feeling the lack of sleep and energy sapping at her. She cannot slow down yet. Not when her father was so sure something was going to go horribly wrong that he called her in.

She approaches the road along the pavilion breezing past the few mortals that are walking around and if the shouts to get off the sidewalk are anything to by they think she’s on a scooter.

Ah, mortals. 

The shouting in her head of  _ ‘Find Happy!’  _ leads her straight to a shiny black Rolls parked not far from the stairs to the pavilion. Thank the gods.

This is not a time for graceful measures, so she bangs on the window with her fist possibly terrifying the man inside.

She stops knocking when he rolls the window down.

“Cas? What are you doing here?” Oh, she must make quite the sight wild haired, filthy, and panting like there’s a pack of hellhounds on her tail.

She doesn’t have time.

“Come on, I need you. Mr. Lightning from Monaco, yeah? He’s here with Hammer. We need to go.”

“Cas, what are you-” She feels for this man she really does but she does not have time for his questions.

“Happy get out of the godsdamned car and help me evacuate the pavilion before people start dying.” It was super effective.

“Right, what do you need me to do?” What does she need him to do?

“Pepper and Romanoff, find them and get them moving. Pepper will know better than me how to coordinate the evacuation of the park. And Romanoff may be able to help dad and Rhodey. I need...I need…” What’s a good way to get a lot of people to head for the exits all at the same time? “Where’s the nearest fire alarm?”

“Uhhhh…” Happy is not built for this, “Up the stairs and to the right, I think.”

“Good, I’m gonna...bye.” More running.

Up the stairs and to the right turns out to be correct but off by about a hundred and fifty feet. She pulls it and prays that it is enough to get some people to leave. Or atleast restless in a way that disrupts the Hammer Industries presentation. 

It’s seven o’clock by now and she’s still running along trying to signal a five alarm fire when her phone rings again.

“Hey old man, I beat you to the party.” She really hopes he’s close because she is getting a bad feeling about being anywhere near here.

“Jarvis picked up some calls to the fire department a few minutes ago.”

“What?” She’s relieved that they weren’t just turned off. “Has some hooligan been going around pulling alarms? Disgraceful.”

“They’re evacuating most of the park,” That was the goal, “Find Pepper and Happy and get out of there.”

She sighs. Because what else can she do right now. “Okay, I’m going to stick to Pepper when I find her. Don’t die please. We just fixed you.”

“That’s the plan.” He hangs up on her and she takes off again hoping that she can find Pepper in the crowds she can hear rampaging outside.

She’s back at the car when she picks up the sound of the repulsors and that tells her that her father is here. From where she’s standing she sees Pepper, Happy, and Romanoff coming down the stairs.

“God, Cassie how did you get here?” Ah, Pepper.

“Would you believe me if I said I ran?” Because she did and her body is trying to make her regret it right now. “Why didn’t any of you answer your phones?” This is really important to her.

No one gets to answer her because something starts firing. Shit.

“We need to move. Now.” She turns to get in the car with Romanoff right behind her but Pepper is slower to follow.

“Cassie, what is going on?”

“Happy didn’t tell you?” She’d figured that he would have, “I think Justin Hammer paid Mr. Lightning’s bail and then hired him, but don’t quote me.” Honestly, she has no clue what is happening outside of explosions and the distant sounds of people screaming.

“I didn’t see Ivan Vanko.” Romanoff says. Well, shit, “Hammer was presenting some new drones for the military when Colonel Rhodes and your father showed up. It looks like they were hijacked.” Cas has zero trust for the spy but she can and will work with her for now given the circumstances.

“Arc reactor powered drones?” She looks at both women from her position by the car and they nod. Shit. 

This is not the place to be talking but they can’t do anything else. With the fighting going on it isn’t like they can drive off, they have equal chance of attracting danger here or in the car. Cops and emergency services are already on the way given that she pulled six fire alarms and the intelligent people were already moving towards the exits when her father arrived. 

“We need to find Mr. Light-Vanko. We need to find Vanko and make him shut down the drones. If he’s with Hammer then he has to be nearby. So where’s our friend, Justin?” She looks around for a raised hand or anything from her audience. 

“His stage crew,” Romanoff says, “He’ll be trying to regain control of the drones and salvage his reputation.”

Right. 

Without saying anything else, the superspy turns and walks off, “I need to…” And then Pepper follows after.

“Ummm...Pepper, I promised dad I would stick with you. Where are you going?” Instead of answering Pepper waves for Cas to follow her like she’s at the office and pulls out her phone. Cas signals Happy to remain with the car because the odds are they’ll be running for it very soon. She must sound very convincing again because he stays behind.

What follows is a procession of three powerful women who all have very different kinds of power charging back stage towards a very sad and flustered group of men.

“He’s locked us out of the mainframe.” Sigh.  _ I’m sorry Mario, but our princess is in another castle. _

“Who’s locked you out of the mainframe?” 

Cas follows behind Pepper and Romanoff as they descend the staircase into the backstage tech area. If you could call it that, Cas doesn’t find their set up all that impressive.

“Please, please, go away. Go away. I’ve got this handled.” Hammer seems frazzled and not at all like he can handle anything. 

Cas decides that she doesn’t need to do anything and after all the work she’s put in she can be moral support for Pepper and Romanoff.

“Have you now?” It’s not like Pepper needs her help anyway.

“Yes, I do. In fact, if your guy hadn’t showed up, this wouldn’t be happening. So, please, now, go away.” Did this sad little man actually just try to dismiss Pepper Potts? “Thank you. Listen, we got to get these bitches out of here.” Oh no...Agent Romanoff seems to take offense to that based on the way she advances on Hammer. “What?”

Romanoff very neatly pins Hammer to the table and were it anyone else on the planet Cas would have felt bad...but this man likely got civilians killed for his pride. Arrogance like that is not smiled upon where she’s from.

“You, tell me who’s behind this.” She presses harder when he takes too long to speak, “Who’s behind this?” Hammer brought all of this onto himself.

“Ivan. Ivan Vanko.” Well, they already knew that but it’s not like it makes sense for them to have known that...or maybe Romanoff was testing to see if he’d lie.

“Where is he?”

“At my facility.” That was easy.

As Romanoff leaves Cas calls out to her, “I’ll make sure that Happy knows where to take you.” She gets no response but she does message Happy with an update.

“I need NYPD, please.” Pepper takes charge of the situation now that Romanoff has left and Hammer is not happy about being pushed around.

“No, no, no!” He tries to step into Pepper’s space but Cas intercepts him with a hand.

“Nuh-uh, we’re cleaning up your mess now.” And what a spectacular mess this is.

As Pepper gets redirected she moves towards the technicians and begins issuing commands like she owns the place. She does in Cas’s book but she’s biased. Unfortunately, none of the technicians seem capable of catching up with Mr. Lightning, given that he made a version of the arc reactor she’s not surprised.

No one is making any progress on the coding because the characters are bouncing between numericals, English, and Russian. Cas would try to help but she has no knowledge of the Russian language so she is sidelined for the tech portion of the issue. She can however stand menacingly at Pepper’s shoulder to discourage people from bolting, Hammer remains in place.

Ha.

Coward.

“Each set of drones is communicating in its own unique language.” She sighs because of course they are. It’s too bad that Vanko hates the Starks because he’s pretty smart.

Pepper isn’t deterred, “Well, choose one and focus on that.”

“Have you tried Russian? Why don’t you try Russian?” Hammer tries to lean around Cas and be of some use. He must see the walls closing in on him.

“Thank you, for that obvious and useless advice.” She has no plans to be nice about his change of heart.

The team in front of her is frantic and incompetent and Cas decides that she’s grateful that SI employees and teams have never been this annoying to work with. She will never complain about them again.

Their screens cut suddenly and Cas is relieved to see the shot of Romanoff and her father appear on the screen. Romanoff must have secured Hammer’s facility. “Hey, Superspy, did you catch Mr. Lightning?”

“Vanko wasn’t here.” Well, damn. She’s relieved to see that her father is alright though and so is Pepper if their bickering about him really being okay is anything for her to go off of. 

“Then where is he?” No one has any useful information for that question.

Now that the remaining drones have been disabled the collective stress of the room drops and Cas finds herself sagging as she and Pepper wait for the police to arrive. She is shooting Cas some not so subtle worried looks so she guesses that she looks as awful as she feels right now, but they aren’t done until Hammer is in the back of a squad car as far as she is concerned.

A group of officers arrives to arrest Hammer and he has the audacity to claim that he’s not at fault.

“I’m trying to help here. I get it. I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to pin this on me, huh?” Yes, because this is in fact, his fault, “That’s good. That’s good. You’re starting to think like a CEO, taking out the competition. I like that. You think you’re making a problem for me?,” He can’t resist making one last threat as he’s being led away in cuffs by police. _ “ _ I’m gonna make a problem for you. I’m gonna be seeing you again real soon.” He’s welcomed to try but there’s no way Cas will be letting anything happen.

She and Pepper follow the police out of the pavilion as they lead Hammer away, “Pepper, are you alright?” It’s not like she’s threatened on a regular basis like Cas is used to and this has been a crazy inaugural week for the CEO.

“Am I okay?” That’s the lecture voice. What did she do? “Cassie, you look like you just crawled through a subway tunnel.” That’s because at one point she did but Pepper doesn’t need to know that.

“Occupational hazard. Cleanliness is a privilege.” She’s fine.

The police ask if they’ll be leaving with them and Cas is all for this plan even if it means getting into a police cruiser but Pepper says she wants to stay until the park is cleared. 

Great.

Very responsible.

The problem is that Cas no longer wishes to be anywhere near here but she promised to stay with Pepper. Cas notes a dismantled Hammer droid not far from the stairs...she’s uncomfortable. 

“Pepper can we at least move away from these things. They’re freaky.” They are. Even dismantled they’re off putting and Cas does not want to be near them but she promised to stay with Pepper.

“It’s fine, Cassie.” It really isn’t, “Take a seat.” And Pepper is being adamant and commanding still.

Pepper isn’t going anywhere and there doesn’t appear to be any immediate danger that she can see. All of the fighting had been drawn away by her father and Rhodey before the damage became structural so nothing is going to fall on them. Everything is slowing down now so the exhaustion that she’s been actively ignoring pulls to the front of her mind. Cas sighs and sits down at the top of the stairs near Pepper to wait. 

She’s half asleep slumped over with her head on her knees when the beeping starts. It’s not a comforting noise even if her disoriented brain first confuses it with an alarm clock because she is not in bed and she doesn’t have an alarm like that.

Cas’s body has her up and grabbing Pepper’s arm to pull her along at a supremely slow mortal speed even though she knows she doesn’t have time to out run the blast. Doesn’t mean she won’t try to save Pepper.

But then she hears that blessed sound of repulsors firing and a short, “Kid, move three steps to your left.” She complies automatically but doesn’t look back and then she’s in the air. A look over her shoulder gives her a view of a silver helmet that she assumes hides Rhodey. Then she laughs because this is all insane and she’s a demigod so she deals with some other worldly things but the rush of repulsor powered flight away from the exploding drones is a lot. Cas prefers pegasi.

Rhodey lands them on a nearby roof and pops open his faceplate.

“Hey, Rhodey! What are you doing here?” She’s gonna fake it till she makes it to a bed at this point.

He gives her a small smile, “Cassandra, you are as nuts as you’re father.” Huh. Well then, that came out of left field.

“I’m sorry,” She’s confused, “I can’t read you very well yet. Is that a compliment?”

That get’s her a real laugh. She hears her father land behind her with Pepper and as is the trend for her when she’s around both of them an argument starts almost immediately...did Pepper just say she quit?

And of course then they’re kissing so Cas chooses to avert her eyes and face back towards Rhodey who has no such issues with watching her father make out with her favorite female role model. 

Yep.

She’s just gonna let that happen out of direct line of sight. She understands and maybe even saw this match up coming but Cas does not need to watch.

“I think it was weird. You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape.” Rhodey no...they hadn’t been spotted. She could have just left unacknowledged and ignorant.

She surrenders to the awkwardness of the stuttering conversation that Pepper and her father are having with Rhodey.

“Hi everyone, glad we’re all alive.” Gods, mortals make her awkward. That has to be it.

“You good, kid?”

“Yep. Unharmed. You?” His armor is a wreck but he isn’t acting hurt. Then again this is her father and he hid that he was slowly dying over a period of months.

“Yep.” She’s glad they got that settled.

She needs a shower and a bed.


	21. The Next Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read my story so far and commented and gave me kudos. More people have given Cassandra the time of day than I had been expecting. Again thank you.
> 
> The sequel is in the works the problem is that my mind keeps skipping ahead moments.
> 
> So spoilers, Cas and her demigod friends are going to take one look at Peter Parker and say this is now ours back off everyone else. But we have a long way to go for that...like 6 years of story. That's like the entirety of Harry Potter's magic education.
> 
> But I've got near 35K of content that needs refining and trimming before it goes to my sound board/editor (<3 to you). Give me maybe a week to start posting and like last time I'll post half first and then twice a week.
> 
> I love all of you amazing readers!!!!! Thanks again!

The past three months have represented a change into a new normal for Cas. Her job is the same, though her father is around a bit more and is less inclined to drop off the face of the Earth for days at a time. Pepper would destroy him if he tried, she never even needs to step in. She still fields calls and discussions for the new GrecoRoman Peace despite the stirring of some new big quest out there, (Zeus zapped Apollo into mortality. Ha! He saved Rachel from death by fire though so that’s pretty cool.) but she remains firmly planted in the mortal world. And plans to remain there for a while.

But today, today is special. Like the ones before this were practice or tryouts for her new role.

It’s weird. Cas knows exactly what’s inside of the neatly wrapped package in her hands because she signed all of the paperwork to make it happen but Pepper, amazing, dependable, currently dating her father, Pepper wrapped it up like a gift for her.

She smiles softly as she pulls all of it off with more care than she typically devotes to opening a present. It’s partly because she’s grateful and partly because she has an impatient audience. Inside is her new passport, drivers license, and all of the other important documents one needs to live life.

Dr. Cassandra Stark.

That’s her name now.

She grins but she can’t let this get teary, “Why is my address listed as yours again, old man?” They’ve talked about this. She can’t keep her perfectly functional apartment because of who she is now. So, she’s in the market for a new place but she had to wait for the paperwork to be processed on her name to be able to look for or sign anything.

It was a whole mess. Mostly, Pepper was worried that if who she is leaked to the press before everything was ready Cas would get stalked home until she snapped and punched a creep in the face. A valid concern because an angry punch from Cas could kill a man. 

The solution was for her to invade her father’s mansion until everything was ready and then she can reassert her independence. They’re lucky it’s a big mansion because sure father and daughter want to get to know each other and their new dynamic but...small doses of the wholesome family thing, please and thank you. 

“Because my kid is a couch surfing bum that won’t get out of my house.”

Ha. Couch surfing.

Not one of her better ideas but in her defense.

“You doubted my ability to jump from the base of the stairs to the landing so really that was your fault.” She’d never heard the term before two months ago and took it literally. They have it on video. “Can I get my own place now, Pepper?” She loves her father but living with him is not something she can do after having her own place for months.

“I’m sure we can work something out.” 

Thank the gods.

This wasn’t the direction that Cas saw her adventure going but like Chiron said she needs to be open to change.

Cassandra Stark will Return in her own stand alone story. 

The Cult of Alexander.

Sample: 

Cas eagerly rips the shoes off of her feet as Happy pulls the car onto the blessedly empty freeway. It’s not that her feet hurt all that bad but it’s a trigger for her brain that she can relax. And she does, she melts right into that cushy car seat. 

Sigh.

“Cassie,” Pepper sounds just as exhausted, “You didn’t have to turn your birthday into a charity event like this. We could have had it separate.” And make her go to two parties like this? No way, she wants to go to New York for the real celebration of surviving another year. The less time Cas has to spend surrounded by modern Rockefellers and Morgans the better. (She used this in argument...Pepper had the great joy to inform her that Cassandra is in fact a modern Rockefeller/Morgan. She did not sulk and there is no footage.)

Of course, Pepper doesn’t need to be reminded of that fact, “I don’t mind. Let all of the hanger-ons show up to gape at the new Stark heiress and while they’re at it they can cut a check because peer pressure.” She’s been Dr. Cassandra Stark to the public for around three months now and people are still hovering around waiting for her to do something stupid.

Ha.

The problem is she gets her stupid out killing the monsters chasing her fellow demigods.

And the public doesn’t really know about that.

Yet.

“Besides, I’m ditching you chumps for the freedom of the Big Apple.” Home sweet home. Don’t misunderstand her though, Cas has come to love LA and Malibu where she has spent the last months of her life but New York and Long Island are home.

“Chumps? I take offense to that.” Uh Huh, sure he does.

“You take excessive offense to every minor insult, old man.” But she wouldn’t have her father any other way.

“My fragile ego literally cannot handle this assault. I’m not old, we've been over this.” Her father, the king of humility.

“And I’m not a kid. It’s a stalemate, old man, I’ll yield when you do.”

Once her father accepted his identity as a father he came to the conclusion that being called old man by her was no longer okay...she’ll stop once he stops calling her kid. There’s unlikely to be a compromise on this.

She won’t lose and he’s stubborn.

“Whatever.” He veers off, “And we could have had your big twenty two bash here.” This is a repeated conversation, “I can easily fly your minigod friends over.” And she shall respond in the same way.

“You could, but some of them can’t fly safely,” Percy is still on Zeus’s no fly list and he’s saved Olympus twice, “Some of the kids are a bit young to be transported so publicly, and it’s the summer solstice. It’s an important day. I need to be there.” It’s her birthday but it’s also practically ancient greek New Year.

Her father descends into some passive-aggressive reasoning on how he is perfectly capable of giving her a greek-respecting demigod party for her twenty second. She tunes it out because the whining is repetitive even if she understands that they’re both trying to catch up on all that they’ve missed out on.

And her father over commits to everything once he gets going. Pepper’s birthday present will live on in infamy even though Cas helped make it vanish.

Cas shifts her attention to her phone and prepares to ride it out. She’s just pulled up a Twitter feed from some campers when…

_ Danger! _

Her head snaps up, “Happy! Hit the-”

When Cassandra first arrived at Camp Half-Blood she was already very well trained in self control and discipline, so the first time she saw some of the other campers fidgeting and failing to channel what they called ADHD she was confused. It’s just a way to focus on what’s important, it only takes practice to avoid distractions from the primary goal.

Long story short, Cas’s world cuts to the exact instant that the other car smashes into the side of the one her family is in. She’s able to grab Pepper, who is closest to her, and absorb most of the impact as well as come to two very important conclusions.

That car came from nowhere. And this is not an accident.

Happy tries to regain control of the vehicle but they end up spinning into the central barrier. She pins Pepper and herself to the seats and her father looks stunned but she can’t make out any visible injuries. He’s conscious though so she’s hopeful that he’ll be alright.

Pepper is screaming into her ear and that is going to be ringing for a while.

“Pepper!” Cas tries to snap her out of it, “Pepper! I need you to call 911. Dad, you good?” She gets an affirmative noise and takes it as a yes. “Happy?” She gets silence and feels her pulse ramp up more than before. “Dad, stay in the car.”

She’s lucky in that it wasn’t her side of the car that ended up pinned and it’s not her side of the car that took the initial hit, so her door works. Cas is aware as she exits the car that they are telling her to come back but she was just attacked, she’s angry and wants to know what malaka tried to kill her family.

The car that hit them is nondescript, uninteresting, forgettable and a laundry list of other useless accolades. It’s also smashed to hell because this is her father’s town car and it’s got some not so common upgrades.

She approaches cautiously because she doesn’t know what she’s about to find but she knows she won’t like it. Through the driver’s side window and passed the very smashed front end Cas can see the silhouette of the driver against the steering wheel, but she can’t make out anyone else in the car nor can she detect any movement.

Gods, this is a stupid idea but she needs to know despite the aching dread creeping up her spine. 

When she rips the door open using more force than a mortal could ever hope to replicate she nearly gags. Cas has seen some shit. She’s been to Tartarus and she’s seen a field of dead comrades but this dead man’s face is smashed in. There’s exactly zero ounces of pity for the malaka that tried to run them off the road but she has no desire to see the inside of a forehead. Guess the airbag failed to deploy.

Ha.

Sucks for this guy.

She hears her father coming up behind her, “I told you to stay in the car.”

“Pretty sure I’m supposed to be the one saying that.”

Fair. “We don’t exactly qualify for social norms. This guy is very dead by the way, if you're squeamish for that sort of thing.”

“Huh,” A quick look over her shoulder shows her that her father is moving alright but she’s going to need Jarvis to give him a once over to feel comfortable, “Cops are on the way. Happy’s awake now. You recognize this guy?”

Does she recognize this deadman?

There’s something there so she refocuses on the driver's seat in front of her, “No...but there’s…”  _ Focus! Look closer! Threat! _

She sees it on his forearm that’s still draped across the steering wheel. Cas should have seen it immediately but she didn’t.  _ Magic _ ...is the answer that her mind supplies. The rest of her mind though….

Of course.

Of course this happens.

Of course it’s them when she finally gets started on building a life outside of fighting monsters and serving the gods.

On the deadman’s forearm is a tattoo that she hasn’t seen in almost ten years. She never wanted to see it again. A snake consuming its tail. Ouroboros, and highly stylized. This isn’t someone that saw a pretty picture in a museum and brought it to some corner tattoo parlor.

This is a membership badge.

Oh gods.

They’re supposed to be gone. They’ve been gone. They should have just stayed away.

“Cassandra!” Her father must have been calling her for a while if he’s using her full name.

“They’re back…” She can barely make herself say it.

“Kid, you’re freaking me out. Who’s back?”

Is this real? 

Is she hallucinating? Dreaming? Maybe she’s unconscious in the back seat of the car from the crash.

“It’s them. It’s the cultists. Alexander’s followers…”


End file.
